The Bonds of Alchemy
by TransformingTurtle
Summary: In the midst of a dangerous mission, Four-teen year old state alchemist Edward Elric faces his most difficult challenge yet: asking Roy for help. His attempt backfires, finding himself captured and tortured at the hands of a psychopathic killer; and it's all that dumb Colonel's fault. Parental Roy/Ed. Non-Yaoi!
1. Chapter 1

**_Hey everyone! I cannot express how much I have loved working on this story! There are two reasons why you want to read this. One: Because the story is basically already written. Aside from some editing and my beta going over the chapters, you have yourself a full-fledged FMA story- just waiting to be told! (That means no waiting for three months to get an update!) Two: Because there's at least a %1 chance that you'll like it :)_**

 ** _Here are some details about the timeline: My writing will reflect brotherhood more than the original, even though I love both pretty equally. It's going to fall sometime after Ed joins the military, but he'll still be 14 at this point. This is definitely parental Roy/Ed, but I did add some lovely adventures for our other favorite Elric brother, Alphonse. I also put a twist on the homunculus story, as the ones from the show/manga are not present in this fic. I tried to make it captivating, exciting, scary, and ultimately leave you with some serious feels._**

 ** _Lastly, I want to dedicate this fanfic to my father, who passed away seven years ago this month. My passion for writing this story comes from my own love for the greatest man I knew. Please know that I'm not asking for any pity reviews. I just want to express what this fanfic has meant to me. I am beyond thrilled to be posting the first chapter this month, in memory of him. Hope you guys enjoy reading as much I've enjoyed writing!_**

* * *

Chapter 1:

Edward Elric was known for being a lot of things. Being short was the most common description from amongst his peers, but he didn't particularly care for that one. There was also stubborn, hot-headed, loud mouthed, and downright rude to anyone that pissed him off. After all, he was practically still a kid and tended to exhibit more childish behaviors when he was upset. His compassion and innocence often made his job difficult for being only fourteen, but he was no ordinary kid. His past and pure ingenuity for alchemy made him a top state alchemist. He was known as the "people's hero," which might have only attributed to his cockiness; but even his superior, Roy Mustang, often wondered if there was anything the Fullmetal alchemist couldn't do.

Currently, he and Al were on a mission in Ayyrosut, a small town right outside of Central. He had given the Colonel a hard time at first, thinking that Roy was just sending him on a wild goose chase for some kind of military gain. Ayyrosut was mostly forgotten about, and nothing _ever_ happened there. He would have continued to fight the mission if the Colonel hadn't revealed that there was a group of terrorists who had been causing havoc and kidnapping children all around Central and East City. They left a path of destruction wherever they went, and a lot of people were starting to get hurt. At first, this made Ed mad because he hadn't been informed of these attacks sooner, but Roy had assured him he didn't have jurisdiction on the case until now. Hughes had been handling it over in investigations, but they recently discovered these men were using alchemy, which now put Roy in charge of finding them. Under normal circumstances, a boy Ed's age would not have been sent on a mission regarding terrorists, but he was nowhere near normal. Roy had already sent out quite a few of his best alchemists to other cities that were likely to be attacked. He didn't want to put Ed on the case at all, but he was a soldier, and age didn't matter when it came to his duties as a state alchemist. For Ed and Al, the Colonel couldn't have been more right about the suspicion in Ayyrosut. They braced themselves for the ambush they were about to make as Ed recalled the words Roy had left him with.

" _Don't you die on me, Fullmetal. You know how much I hate paperwork."_

* * *

Some days are always better than others. Today was not that day, Roy noted. There were mounds of paperwork, threats to be dealt with, and subordinates being downright useless. Roy Mustang was used to dealing with many daily tasks, but for whatever reason, today's work was piling up by the minute. He was fairly confident he had men working under him, but today it felt like he was taking care of everything by himself. He let out a few curses as he remembered why he was so short-handed. Havoc had the day off. Apparently he took his "serious" girlfriend out of town for the weekend. Sure, the colonel knew she was just another blank space on Jean's long list of 'it didn't work out' girls, but who was he to interfere with his subordinate's personal life? _Whatever makes you happy, Havoc,_ he thought. Then there were Fallman and Breda- _which one of them is sick again?_ The other lieutenant had a family matter to care of. Armstrong had offered his services to the colonel, but when he realized he couldn't keep the emotional alchemist from stripping every time he read a report about some tragedy, Roy determined the extra time he would have to put in was far worth it. That didn't leave very many men left. Fury was assisting him currently, so at least things were getting done. After all, it wasn't like his lieutenants had abandoned him. No, they would never turn their backs on the colonel. Today was just another boring day at the office, and he knew his men could use some time off. His only other lieutenant that stuck around was Hawkeye. She never left his side. Never took a day off. Somehow never managed to get sick- and the most loyal of his subordinates. He cared for all of his men, but Riza was special to him. Everyone knew this, and they all wondered if the two were ever going to acknowledge their feelings for one another. It didn't matter to Roy. He knew how his first lieutenant felt about him, and she was aware of his affection as well, and for now, that was truly enough.

But back to today. Today was crap. Today sucked. Roy placed his hands in his head, unaware that he was staring to doze off. His head hurt. His writing hand was starting to go numb. He just wanted to go home. _Please,_ he thought to himself, _please don't let something else go wrong today._

What a silly thing to ask for.

* * *

It was probably around 9:45pm when a certain young alchemist barged into his superior's office with a report from the recent mission. It caught the dozing colonel off guard, and he attempted to pretend that he wasn't just caught sleeping.

"F-Fullmetal. I, uh, didn't expect you back so soon."

The only response he received from the usual snippy teen was a stack of papers in his face and a distracted response of, "You need to read this."

He grabbed the report from Ed and watched as the boy took a seat on the couch, staring intensely at the floor and seeming utterly exhausted. He appeared to have come directly from the train station.

"I have to say I'm surprised to get a report so soon. Normally I have to pester you for at least two days before I get anything tangible."

This time he received no response at all. It appeared that Ed hadn't even heard the colonel speaking to him. He just sat there, his auto-mail arm clutching his side. That's when Roy was certain something was off. _What has he done this time?_

"Fullmetal. Are you all right?" The last thing that Roy wanted to deal with was something being wrong with Ed, but he couldn't deny that he cared for the boy too much to ignore the obvious signs. Ed finally looked up at him, realizing he was being spoken to.

"What? I'm fine...Just read the stupid report!"

Roy sighed. _Well, he still has his spunk at least_.

He sat down and began to read:

 _Al and I were able to find and ambush one of the hideouts for the terrorists. They had taken quite a few hostages, but we were able to free most of them with ease. It seemed like they were just causing trouble for the sake of it, but I'm pretty sure there's a bigger motive going on. Anyway, there were five men that we could see and we took out four of them with no problem; but it turned out the fifth guy knew alchemy, which explains why they had already gotten so far with their weak plan. It caught us off guard, but we managed to control the situation. Al ended up—_

A sudden coughing fit from Ed pulled Roy away from the report he was reading. He cautiously waited until the boy seemed fine again and was content to continue, until something red on his carpet caught his eye. _Red. Blood._ _Ed's_ _blood._ Panic and anger shot through Roy simultaneously as he practically jumped out of his seat and ran to inspect the blond, who was swaying in his seat as if he were going to pass out any minute.

"What happened, Fullmetal!?" His voice was commanding and probably a little louder than necessary. Ed seemed to be taken back at this sudden outburst, looking embarrassed for some odd reason.

"I—I just thought…I mean I know I don't normally ask—but I…"

Before he could make sense of his fumbling, Roy grabbed the boy's coat and jerked the left side up to reveal a blood soaked cloth that had been pressed firmly against his stomach. He peeled back the material a little to inspect the wound. It didn't necessarily look life threatening, but the fact that Ed was now coughing up blood showed that the kid should have gotten himself to a hospital a long time ago. Ed grimaced in pain as the Colonel's temper could no longer be contained. His bad day had caught up to him and he had finally reached his breaking point.

"Edward! Why the heck are you sitting in my office with an injury like this? You should be at the infirmary right now getting that taken care of!"

"But I—"

"Let me guess, you're _fine._ Is that it? Do you have some crazy notion that the great Edward Elric, 'Hero of the People,' can't die? That you can just keep up this reckless behavior forever?"

"What's your problem all of the sudden?" Ed stood up to face off with his superior as they continued their screaming match. "You know I don't think that!"

"Then what is it, Edward? What is it that make you so careless? So _selfish?"_

Ed was fuming. _"_ I AM _NOT_ —"

"Yes, you are! You're selfish because there are people in your life who care about you, but you don't even bother to take care of yourself! What would Al do if you died? How will you give him his body back lying in a grave, huh?"

"Would you just listen to me! Al is—"

"I don't care about Al right now! I care about the fact that I have to take time out of my already hectic schedule and piece of crap day to take care of a _little_ brat. Do you think that I'll just catch you every time you fall? I'm not your lifeline, Edward. It's time to grow up and start acting like an adult. I can't continue to allow children into the military who refuse to respect their commanding officers."

That statement hurt, no stung, as Ed processed the words that had shamed him more than his sins of committing the ultimate taboo. Tears threatened to fall, but there was no way he was going to show weakness. He didn't have to stand here and keep listening to this any longer.

"Shut up! I _can_ take care of myself!"

"Right, because bleeding out on my couch qualifies as taking care of yourself."

"That's it! SEE IF I EVER ASK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AGAIN!"

The statement puzzled Roy just enough to cool his temper down a little.

"You didn't—"

But the younger alchemist was already heading across the room towards the door. He threw the door open as Roy yelled back to him.

"Get back here Fullmetal! I'm not done with you!"

Ed stopped and slowly turned to face the colonel once more, bearing the saddest expression that Roy had ever seen him make. His eyes narrowed at him, but they weren't full of anger. Just pain. He choked out his next few words, as if he were going to breakdown any minute.

"Y-You didn't even read the whole report, did you?"

And with that final statement, he took off running out the door, and Roy swore that he had seen tears in his subordinate's eyes.

* * *

 _ **There you have it! I know Ed probably wouldn't have actually ask for help, but I needed him to be a little more mature than his normal, reckless self.**_ _ **The first couple chapters are a little short, but they get do get longer and much more exciting. Also, I am really unsure of what to rate this story. Violence is the biggest thing, so I may change it to 'mature' in the later chapters. If you think it needs to be higher or lower though, let me know!**_

 _ **Thanks for reading this much! I'd love to hear what you thought, especially since chapter two is all typed up and ready to go :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

**_Time for round two, everyone! Well, chapter two. Thank you SO SO much for the kind reviews. I was nervous about what you guys would think, but you were all so very kind; and I thank you for that._**

 ** _So a lot of you asked about our dear sweet Alphonse. All I'm going to say is that he does play an important role in this story, because I feel like he gets left out a lot. However, the focus of this story is on Roy and Ed, so I'd be more worried about our short little alchemist if I were you ;)_**

 ** _This chapter is where the real fun starts, so strap onto something quick! It's going to be an emotional ride._**

 _ **I forgot to disclaim the fact that no, a random person like me does not own FMA; and if I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it.** _

* * *

**Chapter Two: Threats & Regrets**

Ed wasn't used to running. He never ran from anything in his life. Even in the face of his mother's death, he chose to do something stupid before ever considering running from it. He could probably thank his most regrettable mistake for his fearlessness. His little brother, his responsibility, and now, Al's inability to eat or feel. The blood seal being his only tether to their world. The way his armor clanked with every movement. The mere sound of it was enough to remind Ed constantly why he couldn't stop fighting.

 _I will get my brother's body back, I swear it!_

But, in this particular moment, there was no Al. No one there to help him think clearly, or assure him that the Colonel was just having a bad day and didn't actually mean the hurtful words that were just spoken. Instead, he found himself alone, as usual, to bear the world's burdens on his small help was coming this time.

 _Fine, if the colonel doesn't want to help, I'll just figure it out my own. I don't need him anyway. He's gonna be sorry for making me think he actually cares!_

Ed clinched his fist even tighter. He would face it like a man, like Roy wanted, and deal with the repercussions later. In reality, this was exactly the opposite of what his superior had been trying to convey, but with no voice of reason around, the boy was left to believe that he truly was on his own.

And it hurt, like hell.

So he ran.

* * *

Roy just stood there, pondering Ed's question for a moment before making any reaction to it.

" _You didn_ _'_ _t even read the whole report, did you?"_

Well, no, he guessed he didn't. Ed's coughing had been pretty distracting, after all. The sound alone was alarm enough to stop and make sure the boy wasn't coughing up a lung in his own office. He had been wondering why this report was so important to Ed, but now he was just plain worried. _What was he trying to tell me?_

Roy sat back down in his chair once more, desperate to finish reading the words that the Fullmetal Alchemist had deemed so important:

… _getting his armor damaged, and now he can_ _'t_ _fight. I have no idea how I got us out of that situation. This guy was tough, and it was like he was expecting us, too. He damaged my arm as well, so I_ _'_ _m pretty freaking useless right now. I guess, what I am getting at is, well after Al made me sit down and think about it, I realized it would be foolish to try and do this on my own. I didn_ _'_ _t want to leave him behind, but there are too many lives at stake to be selfish about this. I came to report right away, because_ _…_ _I need your help Colonel. This is bigger than me and Al. There is something seriously wrong going on, and we need to stop it before anyone else gets hurt! You said I could come to you for anything, so I_ _'_ _m cashing in on that promise. Now get off your butt and help me stop these freaks!_

 _P.S. I may need to go to the hospital first…_

"Well, crap."

The first thing Roy felt was shame. The second was the stinging in his eyes from tears he didn't know he had for his youngest subordinate.

 _He was trying to ask for help, darn it! I was so focused on my bad mood that I couldn't see the signs. That's why he was so quiet when he came in. The kid was actually trying to act like an adult for once, and I shot him down. No, I did much more damage than that. He was probably already afraid that I would tease him for it, and now he thinks I don't even care. Why did this day have to be so awful? I snapped at a fourteen year old kid, and now he's pissed off, on top of running around with a bleeding injury. He's going to do something stupid if I don't find him…_

Roy was already up and walking out of his office before he finished the thought. He was overwhelmed with emotion. Fear. Regret. Compassion. He wasn't used to that last one. The lieutenant Colonel Mustang didn't have time for such feelings. He was striving to be the king, and emotions like that would only slow him down. His first lieutenant, Riza Hawkeye, was the only one who ever saw the softer side of him, and that was on very rare occasions. He knew that, in order to make a difference for the people of Amestris, he would have to put his personal desires on hold. For now at least, it was strictly business. That's what he was good at. Hiding emotions that made him weak. But right now, Ed was making him feel like he was the most uncaring person in the world. He felt so much sorrow for the boy who had already been through so much hell in his short lifetime. Now Roy was just going to be one more person in Ed's life that had let him down. Roy couldn't let that happen. He didn't care how weak it sounded. The Fullmetal Alchemist wasn't just his subordinate. He was like a… _Like a son?_ He had never put it into words before, but that was the best way to describe it. Ed was someone that Roy had felt responsible for from the moment he met the kid. It never felt like a burden to him. In fact, he was happy to help in any way he could. Ed needed stability in his life. He was still growing, and Roy hoped to be the one that Ed would come to for advice as he got older. Of course they had their banter of insults every time the young alchemist came to report, but surely Ed knew how he really felt.

 _I'm sorry, Ed. You know I didn't mean those stupid words. I'll make this right, I promise._

* * *

The colonel didn't have to make it very far down the dark hallway to hear footsteps walking towards him. He stopped for a moment, relief washing over him.

"Fullmetal, is that you? Look, about what I said earlier—"

"I'm sorry, but Edward Elric is unavailable right now."

The voice was calm and sinister, and Roy gasped when he recognized who it belonged to.

"No…that's impossible! Y-You're dead!"

"That's no way to greet an old friend, Roy Mustang."

The figure was finally close enough that Roy could see his face. He was right. It _was_ him. Something had to be wrong. _I thought he was executed a long time ago!_

"Solf. J. Kimblee." He cringed as he said the name.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Kimblee saluted in a mocking manner.

And that's when Roy noticed it. The man also known as the Crimson Alchemist was holding onto a small boy by the neck, dragging him along as he stepped closer. He positioned the young blond so that he was facing the colonel. Roy's breathed hitched for a brief moment as a strangled cry came from the boy's mouth.

"C-Colo…nel?"

"Ed!"

Kimblee then lifted the boy off the ground so that his feet were dangling as Ed struggled desperately to take in air.

"Ah, yes. The Fullmetal pipsqueak. He didn't put up much of a fight. Disappointing, really; but it did feel good to stretch my legs. Hahaha!"

"Did you forget who I am? Let him go right now! I won't hesitate to burn you into nothing but a pile of ashes!" Roy held his hand up, fingers ready to snap.

"Come now, don't spoil the fun already. We're just getting started!" He released his grip ever so slightly on the younger alchemist's neck, so as not to cut off his oxygen completely. "Besides, we both know you won't harm a single hair on me as long as I've got the kid in my grasp."

Roy grit his teeth as hard as he could to keep himself from exploding. He remembered his handgun was still holstered to his side, and began to calculate how fast he could get to it before Kimblee could finish off Ed. There was definitely something different about the man. He was bigger, and seemed a lot stronger, but also looked like he had aged fifteen years. Drugs? Steroids?No, that was never his style. What was it then? He needed to stall.

"How are you still alive, and what do you want?"

Kimblee sighed and placed his hand on his hip. "Can't we just have nice little conversation about the weather?"

"Stop toying with me! Answer the question." If Ed wasn't so close, he'd risk it to wipe that stupid grin off the man's face.

"Fine, straight to business then." Kimblee's eyes narrowed. "Ultimately I want to kill you."

This didn't shock Roy all that much, but there was obviously more going on.

"Then what are you doing with my subordinate!" He yelled.

"Oh, him? He's mostly here for leverage, but I do loathe him almost as much as I do you. I think I'll toy with him a bit longer before I give him back."

"Just what the heck is that supposed to mean!?"

"Oh come on, I was locked up, experimented on, and finally given a new Philosopher stone to use. I deserve some fun, don't you think?"

Roy's eyed widened. "So the execution was just a cover up then."

"You could say that. I didn't ask to be picked apart, however. They forced me to undergo their experiments. I believe creating a homunculous was their goal. My blood stream was fused with a Philosopher Stone, making my body stronger and more durable than a normal humans. Not quite the outcome they were hoping for, but in the end I was grateful. I thanked them for this new body by killing them all, but then I realized I could expand their research and find a way to create the ultimate weapon. Those plans are being worked out as we speak, actually. Though right now I'm just here to have some fun!"

"Fine. If it's a fight you want, then let the boy go and I'll fight."

"Oh I'm not here to fight. I just want to know the secrets of your flame alchemy."

"What?" That's what you're after? This has to be a joke."

"You will tell me, Colonel, or I will kill your precious alchemist."

Kimblee revealed a knife in his free hand, and pressed it against the boy's chest. Roy started to sweat as he began to realize how bad the situation was. Even if he used just a fraction of his flame alchemy, Ed would no doubt get burned to some degree, and he just couldn't bring himself to cause any more damage to the poor boy's body. He had obviously attempted to beat Kimblee, as his skin bore new wounds and apparent punches to the face. To top it off, he still had the wound on his stomach that was clearly visible now, as blood had soaked through his coat and was dripping down his clothes. Things weren't looking too good for Ed, and if he tried and failed to defeat Kimblee, the kid would pay the price. _There has to be another way…_

"You're…an i-idiot…" A voice rasped. Both Roy and Kimblee turned to look at Ed, who had apparently become conscious enough to understand what was happening. "..stang d-doesn't care."

Roy felt a pain in his chest like he had never experienced before. His eyes welled up immediately. A few tears hit his cheek, but he didn't bother to wipe them away. He had let Ed down, again. The boy actually believed that he would choose to let him die.

"How precious. What are you, like father and son now?" Kimblee's sadistic tone rang through the air. Roy wanted to rip out his vocal chords and burn them to a crisp.

"It appears the Fullmetal Alchemist doesn't think that colonel daddy cares about him. You seem upset as well. Did the two of you get into a little fight?" He cooed while he bore the biggest smirk he could make.

"Shut up!" Roy growled through his teeth. He had to end this, now.

"Alright. I'll give you some time to think about my offer then." Kimblee lowered the knife from Ed's chest.

"What?" That was unexpected.

"I am still a man of understanding. I realize this is a hard decision for you, and you need time to fully understand the gravity of the situation. So here's what I'm going to do. Ed is going to come and play with me, while you think about your answer."

"Like _hell_ he is!" Roy clenched his fists tightly.

"I wasn't finished, Roy. After I've had my fun with your subordinate, I'll pay you another visit and you can give me your answer then."

"You're a fool if you think I'll let you hurt him!"

Kimblee laughed in response. "I'm afraid he already is, old friend."

"You're not leaving here with him! I'll never let that happen!"

Roy knew this was his only chance to take action, and he swiftly reached down for his gun. After all, he was trained for this, and it didn't look like he would get a better opportunity. Finger on the trigger, he took aim at the Crimson Alchemist just to be hit with a sudden sharp pain searing in his left shoulder. The impact forced him to drop the gun as he looked over to find the source of his pain. Kimblee had all too well foreseen what Roy was planning, and had hurled his knife toward the Colonel before he could shoot him. He grunted in knife had wedged its way deep into his skin and way too close to his heart. He grabbed the handle and prepared himself for the pain that was soon to follow, but Kimblee interrupted his thoughts with an overly exaggerated sigh.

"It's not going to be a fun fight if I can't use my alchemy on you. Guess I'll have to ditch the dead weight over here. Hopefully he survives this…"

And then Kimblee did something to Ed that Roy swore he would have nightmares about forever.

"ED! NO!"

* * *

 _ **Question(s): What do you think of Kimblee being the baddie in this story? Is anyone else a huge fan of him like I am? Honestly, I don't remember a lot about his character in the original anime (I am re-watching it again and just got to his part in the story), but for some reason he really stuck out to me in Brotherhood. My thought was, this guy seriously needs his own story where he is the main villain! So I gave him one. I think he is crazy enough to do the job I have written for him :)**_

 _ **Think of Kimblee's body as Bradley's from Brotherhood. He's not a technically a Homonculous, but he's much more powerful than a regular human. As mentioned already, this is my own take on how the Homonculous came to be, just because the whole "Father" character doesn't really fit into my plans for this series I'll be writing. (Did I just let that last part slip out?) :)**_

 _ **P.S. Sorry not sorry for the cliffhanger. *attempts to laugh manically, but ends up sounding like a little girl***_

 _ **Be looking for chapter three real soon!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Welcome back!_**

 _ **I thought for sure this chapter would be longer, but it's actually shorter than first two (oops.) I promise the next one is at least 4,000 words longer. My beta didn't get back with me this week for this one, so I am kind of apprehensive about it. Honestly I still want to edit this some more later, but I didn't want to make you wait any longer either. I hope it's not too bad.**_

 _ **I figured someone would point it out eventually, so I'll explain for everyone else as well. I wouldn't argue that the story would flow much better if Ed said things like, 'Colonel Bastard,' and used other colorful language that makes him Ed. However, I don't want to say (type) something that wouldn't come out my own mouth (in that manner). I'm not afraid of swear words and I don't get offended when I read/hear them. I just personally don't use them, and since my writing is a reflection of myself, I have to stick to that. It was definitely challenging trying to convey the intensity without swearing, so I hope it did it justice. Please don't flame me too bad for it. After all, that's Roy's job. Let's leave the burning to him, k? :)**_

* * *

Chapter 3:

" _ED! NO!"_

Roy's body moved instinctively on its own. Shattered glass now covered the floor, and his subordinate's scream echoed in the distance. All he could process was that he had to save Ed. Unfortunately, he would never reach the boy in time. He could faintly hear Kimblee's laughter in the background. Clearly the man had no regrets about what he had just done to the kid. All he had needed were those few seconds of Roy being distracted with that stupid knife to slam Ed into the window with such force, that the boy's body broke through the glass, and was now falling to the ground below.

For a brief moment, everything was in slow motion. Ed saw his life flash before his eyes as he plummeted to- what could very well be- his death. How did this day go so wrong? _This can't be how it ends…it just cant!_

Immediately, Roy had recalled that they were on the second floor and was already racing to the broken window before Ed had hit the ground. He now laid there, motionless, and it was too dark to see if he was still breathing. Without a moment's hesitation, he threw himself onto the ledge and dared to jump, barely catching hold of a tree branch right outside. Adrenaline surged through him as he made the steep climb down. Tree climbing wasn't necessarily his specialty, but when your subordinate just fell two stories, sheer terror and determination allowed for him to momentarily do the impossible. He didn't know when, but apparently he had found the time to pull the blade out of his shoulder that would have otherwise hindered him from such activity. Even now, he was still somehow able to use his injured arm. That's when he realized he had left Kimblee alone, completely unguarded. _I guess I screwed up that opportunity for some well-deserved pay back…_ He would have mentally kicked himself if it wasn't for Edward. Right now, nothing else mattered except getting to him.

With a final jump, Roy landed on the grass a few feet away from the blond alchemist. The jump may have been a bit too high as his ankle now throbbed uncomfortably, but none of his wounds were going to stop him from helping Ed. He found the boy lying on his stomach, so Roy gently turned him over and gathered him in his arms. Ed let out a small groan, sounding way too pitiful to come out of the Fullmetal Alchemist's mouth. However, it did confirmed that he was- in fact- still alive. Under normal circumstances, this would have been such an awkward position for the two of them, but at the moment, all Roy could think about was how small the boy felt in his grasp. He often forgot how young his subordinate actually was, being such a highly skilled state alchemist. Not to mention the young prodigy hated being treated like a child. Though right now, all he could see was a fourteen year old boy, who had suffered more than any kid should ever have to. Ed was still suffering, and this time it was all his fault. He wondered how much physical damage the fall had caused. He also didn't know how long they had before Kimblee would come back for round two. Time was not on his side.

 _This day just keeps getting better and better…_

"Ed, can you hear me?" Roy spoke as softly as he could manage.

The boy's eyes fluttered open and looked at Roy. Even though Ed was clearly in a lot of physical pain, his eyes bore a different kind of hurt. It was a look of betrayal. Roy wanted to breakdown right there and tell the kid how sorry he was, but he knew this wasn't the time. As long as Ed lived, he could tell him later. Right now he needed to find out the damage.

"Ed, please, tell me what hurts. I need to know how bad it is."

There was a long pause as Ed blinked very slowly. He looked down at himself and then back up to his superior.

"E-Everything." He finally managed to whisper.

He squeezed his eyed shut as he took a pained breath. He was no doctor, but Roy was educated enough to know that the wheezing coming from Ed was definitely not good. He tightened his grip on him just a little, as if his touch would somehow ease the boy's pain. He hung his head as tears threatened his eyes once more. He had to stay strong for his subordinate.

"M-My auto mail t-took the brunt of the f-fall.." Ed chocked out what he could while he struggled to breathe in enough air.

Roy managed a half-smile, thankful that Ed's quick thinking had probably just saved his life.

"You did great, Fullmetal."

Ed grunted in pain and looked at the colonel once more. Roy could tell he wanted to say more, but didn't have the energy.

"Everything's going to be okay, Ed. I promise I'm going to get you out of here. You just have to stay awake for me, all right?"

Ed nodded. The words sounded so sincere from his superior that he couldn't help but be confused. Just a while ago, Roy was shouting at him to grow up, and now he was cradling him in his arms- like a father protecting his son- begging him to stay alive. He felt Roy lift him off the ground and his breath hitched in his throat at the amount of pain it caused. He squeezed his eyes shut, drowning out the apologies he could hear from the man carrying him. He tried to focus on what mattered. He was still alive and Al still needed him. Not just to get his body back, but he was waiting for him back in Ayyrosut to complete their mission. He could stay awake as long as he kept thinking on that. He would pull through and everything was going to be fi—

"Well well, glad to see the little shrimp survived." Kimblee's voice rang out, much to Roy and Ed's horror.

The colonel had been pathetically limping his way to the car, but hadn't made it very far when the Crimson Alchemist stopped them in their tracks. _Time's up…_

"You just agreed to your own funeral, Kimblee. There's nothing to stop me from killing you now!"

The threat was well spoken indeed, but Roy hadn't quite thought through how he was going to snap his fingers while holding the boy. He finally got a grip on his right hand that was currently holding up Ed's legs, and sent a huge explosion in Kimblee's direction. He had hoped the swift movement didn't cause Ed too much pain, but it was all he could do to protect them both. Of course the other alchemist easily defended himself against his flames. He was in peak condition, while Roy had a gash in his left shoulder, a sprained ankle, and half-dead kid in his arms. He had no idea how they were getting out of this one. Not to mention Kimblee had a Philosopher stone, which meant his attacks were going to be much stronger. He snapped again, but Kimblee sent out a wave of explosions himself. Their attacks met head on, throwing the colonel onto his back with Ed crumpled on top of him. At least the boy landed on something soft this time.

 _I don't know how much longer I can keep up with this guy._

"Fighting with you is boring." He yawned. "Why don't you just hand over the kid and I'll by on my way."

Even after all these years, Kimblee never lost that evil smile that had always made Roy feel uneasy. The man was pure evil, and he played the part so well.

"You're not getting those filthy hands anywhere near Ed!" Roy belted out with as much authority as he could possibly manage.

In truth, he had no plan, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to protect Ed. Speaking of, the boy was definitely unconscious now. _Great, I'm no match for Kimblee, and now Ed's going to die right here on the front lawn of Central headquarters._ He cursed silently to himself. _I swear this day can't get any worse!"_

He should have sworn on something else.

The sound of gun shots filled the air. Roy was still trying to figure out if the bullets were for him or protecting him, until he heard a loud grunt from Kimblee. He was now kneeling down and holding his leg. _Well, that answers that question. Which can only mean.._

"Sir! Are you all right?" The first lieutenant's voice rang out in a demanding but concerned tone, as she took aim to the injured alchemist. Riza was always there when he needed her, but the relief was short-lived, because Roy knew that she had no idea who they were dealing with.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye! Stay back! It's too dangerous!" Roy had gently laid Ed on the ground next to him and was struggling to get back on his feet.

"You just had to crash the party, didn't you Riza?" Kimblee sighed as he stood back up to face the woman. "You know I hate having to kill a beautiful woman such as yourself."

Riza's eyes widened in horror upon recognizing the man that stood before her. She could barely hear Roy's frantic cries in the background. _"It's Kimblee! Get out of here now!"_

She pulled the trigger, but Kimblee had already sent an explosion her way. "Too slow!"

"Riza!" Roy screamed as he searched the dust for any sign of life. Then he remembered he wasn't dead and quickly snapped his finger in the enemy's direction. Kimblee managed to dodge most of the flames, but he was a lot slower now that his leg was injured. It was a tiny victory, but at least Roy didn't feel completely useless. The Crimson Alchemist decided to switch tactics and charged at Roy with the blade he had used earlier. Thankfully Roy was able to dodge getting his throat sliced up, but his ignition glove didn't come out as lucky. He cursed the man, but was greeted with a kick to the gut that had him on the ground immediately gasping for air. His vision started to blur as he remembered his arm had been bleeding this whole time. _Crap. This is bad._ He looked over at Ed to try and find a sign of hope that the boy was still alive. Kimblee was now standing over the young alchemist, probably wondering the same thing.

"D-Don't! Don't do this, Kimblee! _Please!"_ Roy pleaded as the familiar tears began to fall once more

"I can't believe a pathetic soldier like you holds such high rank in the military. It's really a disgrace." He sighed in agitation. "I won't kill the kid just yet. You, however, well let's just hope you survive this!"

Kimblee put his hands together one more time for his final attack against Roy.

"After all, I still want your flames!"

Maniacal laughter from the Crimson Alchemist was the last thing he heard before the loud explosion that seared his whole body with pain and sent him plummeting into unconsciousness.

* * *

 _ **Okay so I know that Roy can technically use pin point alchemy, as stated in brotherhood when he's battling Envy. For the sake of the story line, he's not going to have that ability (or isn't going to use it at least), because good grief that is just too much power! Plus it doesn't fit into my storyline well. I pictured this fight resembling the battle between he and Ed in the original anime. Hope that's not too annoying.**_

 ** _We finally get to Ed's torture in chapter four. I was honestly shocked that it took me three chapters to get there. I am way more excited about this next one, so get ready for some feels and bloody violence!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Back again, within a week's time! (Did you think I was lying about the quick updates?)_**

 ** _We finally get into a little bit of Ed's torture, and a nice little POV from Alphonse. I actually changed a whole section in this chapter concerning said little brother, and it was kinda inspired by you guys. So you see, your reviews did help me!_**

 ** _*A quick thank you to Ephemyst who quoted Kimblee in their review, thus giving me the idea to add it into the story!*_**

 ** _Disclaimer: NO._**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 _Ed didn't know how long he had been running, but he could finally make out a figure ahead of him in a blue uniform._

" _Colonel!"_

 _Relief washed over him. It was finally over. He was going to be okay after all. He stopped directly in front of the man with his hands on his knees to catch a much needed breath._

" _Fullmetal…"_

 _The boy looked up at his superior as a smile began to form on his features. Roy would protect him now. He didn't have to run anymore._

" _I see you managed to escape Kimblee."_

" _Yeah…for a while there I didn't think I was going to—"_

" _That's unfortunate."_

 _The sound of a gunshot caused Ed to lock eyes with the man before looking down slowly at the hole that was now in his chest. Blood started flowing out as he began to stumble._

" _W-Why?"_

" _You were already dead to me, Edward!"_

 _He placed his fingers in front of the boy's face and snapped._

"NO!"

Ed jolted his head upward in panic, letting out another cry at the excruciating amount of pain the sudden movement had caused him. The next thing that swept over him was confusion. Why had he dreamed about his superior killing him? Better yet, where was he? He remembered the Colonel carrying him at once point, quickly noting he would have to discuss with him later about that never happening again, but where was Roy now?

 _Great…he's even a jerk in my dreams!_

Finally getting his breathing back to normal, he found the strength to open his eyes. When he did, though, he wished he hadn't. Panic shot through his whole body once again upon realizing what was going on. His hands were chained above him with cuffs that attached to the wall. It forced him into a standing position, while his ankles were also chained in a similar fashion below him. Someone had used alchemy to meld the cuffs into the wall, and his auto mail leg had a metal rod protruding from the thigh area to make sure it was stuck in place. Clearly they were not taking any chances on his ability to escape. Ed mused over the fact that his auto mail arm had been left mostly undamaged, which meant this person already knew that he couldn't use it.

 _Kimblee…_

Ed pulled against his restraints anyway, because he wasn't going to just sit there and not try. His entire body was wracked with so much pain that he barely managed to hold back a scream. What did he really expect after being bashed through a glass window and falling two stories?

 _Okay…no sudden movements it is. I'll just have to use my brain to find a way out._

He searched the room for anything that could aid in his escape. That's when he finally realized that his shirt was off and the wound on his stomach had been bandaged.

 _That creep!_ Ed fumed. _How dare he treat my wound and then chain me up to torture me!_

He blinked in horror. _Torture._ He said the word but just realized what it meant. Someone was going to hurt him and he couldn't even fight back. This meant he would be in even more pain than he already was. There was no freakingway he was going to let that happen. He honestly didn't believe his body could handle any more, and he was determined he would not die in a place like this.

 _What now?_

The pole in his thigh-now that could prove useful. He just had to figure out a way to reach it. His hands were bound, but they were still within reach of one another if he stretched them far enough. Of course his auto mail limb wasn't working correctly at the moment, so that hand wasn't going anywhere, but his left hand should be able to cover the distance if he kept reaching…

 _Come on, just a little further. Streeeetch!_

"Surely you're not foolish enough to try and escape, are you?"

The voice came out of nowhere and startled Ed so much, that he jerked his head upward and hit it against the wall behind him. He cursed under his breath with his eyes closed until the pain finally receded. It would have been really easy to slip into unconsciousness just then, but he highly doubted Kimblee would let him off the hook that easily. He settled for opening his eyes and glaring daggers at the man.

"My, what fire behind those eyes. I can't wait to drown it out!" Kimblee danced around like a child.

"Well, then I guess you're the fool if you think you can break me." Ed spat.

Ed's comment didn't even phase him as he continued his muse. "I just love it when their feisty!"

"You're sick…" Ed grimaced.

The Crimson Alchemist started walking towards his captive. "No, but I am going to have a lot of fun with you, little boy."

"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" Ed yelled.

Kimblee cocked his head to the side and smiled. "So defensive…How about I really give you something to yell about?"

He pulled out a small knife from his sleeve and thrust it into the young alchemist's flesh palm. Ed grit his teeth to keep from screaming, but couldn't completely silence the strangled cry that squeezed through. He took in quick breaths as he watched his blood start to trickle down his wrist.

"Impressive! You held that scream back quite well." Kimblee congratulated him. "I'm afraid that hand isn't going anywhere now, though."

"Yeah, well…" Ed panted between breaths while he tried to continue his threat. "There's nothing you can do that will—"

He was cut off by Kimblee placing a finger over his mouth. The man lowered his face to whisper in the boy's ear.

"Want to know a secret?"

Ed froze, wondering if the man was getting ready to attack him again. He said nothing, but looked in his direction to try and see anything.

"That pain was _nothing_ compared to what I have in store for you!"

Ed could feel Kimblee's hot breath on his neck, sending shivers down his spine. He squeezed his eyes shut, preparing himself as best he could for what was coming.

* * *

Al sat completely motionless in the dark building that Ed had left him in. He dared not move, partly because he was afraid of being found by the terrorist alchemist, but mostly because he couldn't. His metal legs had been tactfully destroyed. Cracks lined his right side, threatening to shatter the armor completely if he made too much movement. A hand was missing as well. Boy did he look rough. He had lost too much of his armor for Ed to use an array to fix him, and they couldn't risk going back to get his scraps with his brother's auto mail out of commission. Honestly, it was a miracle he still had his armored body at all. He wasn't sure when things had gone so horribly wrong, but what started out as gathering intel, turned into a deadly battle for their lives. The boys quickly realized they had philosopher stones in their possession as well. This alerted them to the fact that these guys were definitely up to something bad. With all the kidnappings and sudden increase in stones, that could only mean one thing, and it infuriated Ed to the point of ambushing the men's hideout prematurely. Al really couldn't blame him- they had been taking children most of all. It was sick and needed to be stopped now before more lives were lost. They both fought valiantly, driven by their anger. For a brief moment, it even looked like they were going to win. The terrorists were clearly highly trained in combat, but without alchemy, they were no match for the brothers. That is, until the last guy stepped in. Up until then, he had been keeping his ability to perform alchemy a secret, but as soon as he got a hold of Al, everything went to hell. It was pure fear that fueled Ed enough to get his brother out of there before his blood seal could be destroyed. He suspected they only made it out because the man had let them, but as for why he would do that, Al didn't know. Either way, Ed was determined to win. It should have made him proud, seeing his big brother fight so bravely to save him; but It wasn't the first time. Ed had been fighting for him ever since that night, when they lost everything. He should be mad, or maybe even hate Ed for his current condition. Instead, he just felt sorry for his older brother. Ed always bore the world's problems on his shoulders, and now he was just one more burden. He hated watching Ed constantly sacrifice so much for him. Sleep. Food. Relationships. Even his freedom. Lugging around auto mail everyday wasn't any better than his own situation either. If only there was something he could do to fix this- a way that he could help- where Ed could finally be free, and they could both be happy…

 _I want to help you just as much as you want to help me. And I'm going to fight just as hard as you do to make sure we set this right, together_ _._

He was brought out of his thoughts at the realization that he had been there for some time now.

 _Where are they?_ _Brother should have told the Colonel what happened by now._ Al couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of his older brother begging the Flame Alchemist for help. _I bet that went over well_ _…_

Concluding that there was nothing he could do but wait, he returned to hopeful thoughts of getting their bodies back once more.

* * *

" _After all, I still want your flames! Hahahaha!"_

"ED!"

Roy's eyes flew open as his body jerked upward into a sitting position. His hand was stretched out in front of him, as if to save the boy from his dreams, but was only met with air. He lowered his head in disappointment as reality came rushing back to him. He had failed Ed, allowing Kimblee take him and do God knows what to the boy. Was he really going through all this just to get his hands on the secrets of his Flame Alchemy?

 _This is all my fault._

"I am completely and utterly useless." He buried his face in his hand, trying desperately to hold back the tears.

"Sir."

He froze. The soft, concerned voice came out of nowhere. He immediately felt embarrassed for talking out loud and not realizing someone else was in the room. He turned to look at who it was.

"H-Hawkeye? …Riza!" Roy's eyes widened, remembering now that Kimblee had attacked his first lieutenant.

"Are you okay?!" He reached for her hand, but the pain he was starting to feel now hindered him from getting to her. She understood the gesture and walked closer

"I'm fine, Sir. It's you who I am worried about." She reached for his hand this time and let Roy squeeze it in his own.

"I...I thought I'd lost you." He whispered softly.

"It will take a lot more than that to get rid of me. Besides, you would never get your paperwork done without my supervision."

Roy smiled at the Lieutenant's musings. It was a weak smile, but he desperately needed it. Comforted by her safety, he released her hand and found a less painful position to lie in.

"What happened? Where am I?"

She moved her chair close to his bed and took a seat.

"I realized it was Kimblee quickly enough to elude most of his attack, but it knocked me unconscious. When I finally came to, I heard a loud explosion and saw him fleeing with Ed. I tried to crawl my way through the smoke, but by the time it cleared, he was gone. That's when I saw you lying on the ground with that wound in your shoulder. I assumed you had been bleeding for a while, so I did my best to treat it before you lost too much blood. When you wouldn't wake up, I called an ambulance and had you taken to a hospital. We were starting to get concerned that you wouldn't wake up at all, Sir. You lost a lot of blood on top of taking a direct hit from Kimblee. The doctors said you were lucky to be alive…"

"That's because he wasn't trying to kill me." Roy stated quietly.

He could see the tears in Riza's eyes. He felt bad for not being able to protect her either. Based on her appearance, she was certainly banged up. There was a small bandage around her forehead, and visible scrapes and bruises. There was no doubt Kimblee's attack had caused more damaged then she was letting on, but since he was the one currently lying in a hospital bed, she must not be near as hurt as he was. His left shoulder was bandaged and his arm placed into a sling. His ankle was also wrapped, confirming that he had sprained it. His muscles were tense and he felt like he had been the one to go through that window instead of Ed. The only good news was that he wasn't seriously injured, so he should be able to persuade the doctors to release him soon.

"Al—Alphonse!" Roy stated suddenly, also recalling that the armored boy was still stranded in Aryyosut. "Ed said his armor had been damaged. We have to send someone out to—"

"It's already taken care of, sir." She reassured him softly. "Major Armstrong went to check on him this morning."

Roy breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't matter if he saved Ed or not. If something happened to Al, the boy would _never_ forgive him.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Regret filled him even more. "I'm sorry I worried you. And I'm sorry I didn't protect you. I failed you, too."

"No, you cant think that way, sir. We were not prepared to deal with an enemy like that."

"But he got away with Fullmetal!" Roy clenched his fist, as much as it hurt, wishing he could burn something.

"Then we'll find him and bring him back."

"You don't understand. He's going to torture him. Torture him because of _me!_ He's a fourteen year old kid! Who does that to a child?"

The woman gently placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Roy to look her in the eyes.

"Then we'll find him quickly."

* * *

Ed was still clinging to the hope that he could escape, but first, he needed to figure out where he was. If Kimblee was planning on going back, they couldn't be too far from Central- not that he trusted a word the deranged man spoke. Either way, he concluded that they were most likely underground. His eyes darted around for clues, but his captor was doing an excellent job of keeping his focus. So far the man had just been asking questions about Roy's alchemy, resulting in a kick to the gut or punch on the face whenever he refused to answer. Every time he drew in a breath, he wanted to gag from the stench of his own blood, coming from his now broken nose. Ed was also certain that if his ribs weren't already cracked from when he fell, there were at least two that were completely broken now. Kimblee was relentless in his attacks, not taking concern to the condition his body had been in before he brought him here and proceeded to beat him up. The hits he was taking were painful, especially when his hand jerked involuntarily against the knife that was still in it, but ultimately it wasn't as bad as he had thought. Perhaps this was the extent of Kimblee's rage.

He should have known he wouldn't get that lucky.

"And you're positive you don't have any info for me on Flame Alchemy?" Kimblee had his fist raised, ready to deal another blow.

"I already told you, I don't know anything! Go and make that jerk tell you himself." Ed's eyes narrowed at the man.

"Aw, Colonel daddy must have really hurt your feelings huh?"

"Shut up!"

"Don't worry, he'll tell me. As long as I have you, he'll do whatever I want!"

"You're a fool if you honestly believe that he would give away secrets like that for one subordinate." The hot-headed alchemist spat in his face with his usual confidence.

"Ah yes, but you're not just _any_ subordinate, are you?" Kimblee placed his hands on his knees and lowered himself so that he was eye level with the boy. He stared at him uncomfortably, making Ed unable to keep his composure.

The younger alchemist finally looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Deep down, he did. At least he thought he did, until yesterday. Everyone said the Colonel really cared for he and Al. That he would do anything for them. Ed didn't know why. All they ever did was insult each other each time he came to report. Still, Roy would never let anyone else talk to him the way he did. Ed always thought that meant something. That he actually did care about their lives. He had even believed the man when he said they could come to him for anything. Now, he was only in this mess because of that lie. It was supposed to be a simple evening. He would give Mustang the report, be yelled at for getting hurt, go to the hospital and, with the Colonel's help, stop the terrorists once and for all. He and Al would get back to their research, and life would go on.

 _If I'm just some annoying brat to him, why did he get all upset when I got injured?_ _Maybe he just acts like he cares so the people will make him Fuhrer someday…_

He didn't know if he actually believed that or he did know was that right now, he was at the mercy of this monster, and no one was coming to save him. Especially not the great Flame Alchemist.

Kimblee must have known what he was thinking. He grinned maliciously at the boy, sending shivers down Ed's spine. It was the kind of grin that could make any man tremble in fear. It was all Ed could do to keep his breathing under control.

"Well, let's get started then!" The man jumped up straight and clapped his hands together in delight. "I only have a short time to enjoy hearing you scream, after all."

The only emotion Ed could process was fear. It wasn't a common feeling, but he knew very well what it was. His mind was screaming at him to find a way out, but he was completely trapped. For a second time, he didn't notice the blade in Kimblee's grasp until the man had dug it into his shoulder and ran it up his forearm. He bit his lip to keep from screaming, but he couldn't hold back the tears that filled his eyes.

"Still not going to sing for me?" The man thought for a moment. "How about this!"

He shoved the blade into Ed's flesh thigh, then ripped it out with just as much force. Ed merely squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself to keep quiet. He felt so weak to be consumed by such pain. Up until now, his auto mail surgery had been the most painful experience of his life, but Kimblee was slowly tearing away at his resolve. The older alchemist just laughed at the expression on the boy's face.

"You think I can't break you, but I assure you we're not stopping until I have."

He then used the same knife to carve some sort of design on Ed's chest, making sure he dug deep enough into the skin to cause the boy to tug at his restraints in pain. As if he needed more scars added to his already roughed up physique. Ed froze when he finally understood the marking.

"What are you—wait!"

Kimblee placed his hand on the small transmutation circle he had just carved and watched as a small explosion erupted on Ed's entire body. He heard the boy involuntarily scream at the sudden, searing pain, and smiled with satisfaction.

"Ah, screams are like lullabies to my ears!"

 _This guy's insane!_

"How was that little trick?" Kimblee asked, thoughtfully. "I basically turned your body into a bomb. Not powerful enough to kill you or anything. Just extremely painful."

It took Ed a long time to form any words. His eyes were closed as he stood there, panting, trying to fill his lungs with enough air. His flesh was literally burning and his vision was starting to go blurry. To top it off, he had finally caved and screamed. _Great._ After what felt like minutes, the pain receded enough that he dared to open his eyes. Kimblee was patiently watching him, eager to hear the boy's thoughts. He leaned in a little closer to examine his handiwork.

"Well?" His hand rested on his chin, as he waited for a response.

Finally in control again, Ed narrowed his eyes at his captor and spat.

"Do your worst."

* * *

 _ **A few questions:**_

 _ **(1.) How's my rating? Does it need to be any higher?**_

 _ **(2.) Was this chapter a good length? (Or still too short?)**_

 _ **(3.) Would it confuse you guys too much if I changed my pen name? I want to make it the same as all my other accounts, which is 'ninjaformer,' and much better sounding than "transformingturtle." (If you read my profile you'll see that Transformers & TMNT are what I grew up watching.)**_

 _ **I always appreciate advice and what not. As long as it's nice, cause you know, I'm just a little person after all. And I'm not talking about age. I am actually a really tiny person, like Ed. I am shorter than people who are ten years younger than me. So I very much feel his pain. Ugh.**_

 _ ***Chapter 5 will be a continuation of Ed's torture, an even more distressed Roy, plus more Al!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thanks for sticking around this long guys! We're officially half way through the story now :) Also thanks for all the reviews. I used to think it was weird for writers to beg for reviews, until I realized I was checking my emails constantly to see if someone had posted anything, haha. The majority of them have been nice as well, so thanks for that too!**_

 ** _Just a slight warning for this chapter, because there is mention of rape, BUT it's not what you're thinking. So if that kind of thing bothers you, don't worry, you're still okay to keep reading. Just didn't want anyone to freak out when they get to that scene._**

 _ **I still own nothing and I'm fine with that.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Five:**

It had been roughly thirty-six hours since Ed was taken. Roy had no idea how long Kimblee was planning on keeping the kid, or why he hadn't just taken him instead. If it was Flame alchemy the man was after, how was torturing Ed going to make a difference?

 _Something's not right about all of this…_

Of course, there was no guarantee that Kimblee would bring Ed back at all. It was more likely that he would return without Ed, threatening to kill the boy if Roy didn't cooperate. That's why it was so imperative that the Fullmetal Alchemist be found before Kimblee got tired of 'playing with him.' Roy was also concerned that even if Ed did make it out of this, he would be broken beyond repair, and that would be a fate worst than death. He could never forgive himself if he let that happen. His only option was to find Ed first and save him from that hellhole, before it was too late. Thankfully, all of his men were back at full speed and giving their full attention to the case. Even Havoc returned from his vacation early when he heard Edward was missing, and Hughes was leading a team of his own men himself. Roy was beyond grateful for all the help, but every hour that passed with no leads was only getting him closer to an outcome he wasn't ready to accept.

 _Ed… I will find you. I swear it!_

It didn't help that he was still unable to do much, besides give orders. Since he wasn't too seriously injured, he had been able to persuade the doctors to release him; but his left arm hardly served him any purpose because of his shoulder, and the pain just made everything worse. Still, he and the first Lieutenant were lucky to be alive, and Roy was confident it was nothing compared to how Ed was feeling right now.

"Roy!"

The colonel's thought were interrupted by a familiar voice barging into his office.

"Hughes. You better have some information for me if you're in my office instead of out there looking for Fullmetal."

"Well, nice to see you too, Roy." The major seated himself down in one of the chairs and sighed. "Look, I think we need to change our focus to figuring out who was experimenting on Kimblee in the first place. There has to be more going on than what we can see."

Roy stood up at this and slammed his good hand on the desk. "Who cares about that! We need to stay focused on finding Ed!"

"Calm down, Roy. I know how you feel. I have a daughter, remember? I would give my life to keep her safe. Why, just the other day she was riding her bike and I had to—"

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO BRAG ABOUT ELECIA!" Roy was fuming.

Maes laughed nervously. "Right, sorry. My point is, if we look at it from a different angle, it just might give us a clue as to where Ed is."

"I'm sorry, but I need all the man power I can get right now."

"I understand. You can have my team if you want, but I _am_ going to look into this."

Roy said nothing, but stared at his friend coldly.

"I'm in investigations, Roy. Let me do my job." Hughes stood up to face the The Flame Alchemist, hoping he wasn't about to get met with fire. Roy finally let out an exaggerated sigh and sat back down.

"Do what you must, but you had better tell me the second you find any useful information."

"Will do!"

With that, the lieutenant colonel saluted and walked toward the door. He opened it and turned back his friend once more.

"We'll find him, Roy. I won't stop looking until we do."

* * *

Too much time had passed since he had heard from Ed. Al began to fear that something had gone wrong. He knew his brother would never abandon him. On top of being family, they had been through too much together, and would always have each other's backs. He wondered what the Colonel had said, or if he even agreed to help.

Or maybe Ed never made it back at all.

 _No! I can't think like that._

"Alphonse Elric!"

Al snapped his head in the direction of the voice to see Major Alex Louis Armstrong, along with two other soldiers, following close behind.

"Major? What—"

"My boy, your body! What happened!?" Alex kneeled down in front of the boy, armed stretched out in dramatic fashion.

"We were caught off guard by one of the terrorists using alchemy. He did a pretty fancy job on me, huh?"

"I see." The major seemed to be taken back at the sound of his gradually cracking armor, and Al was afraid the man would burst into tears any moment.

"Um, Major." He started. "Why are you here?"

The Strong-Arm Alchemist regained his composure and ripped his shirt off in dramatic form, flexing for the young boy.

"I have come to aid you in your quest to stop the alchemists and save the children hostages! What a noble cause you and your brother are doing here. It brings me great pride to assist you in this mission!"

"Uh okay, thanks. You can put your shirt back on now…" Al rubbed the back of his helmet nervously. "Hey, where's brother?"

The major looked unsure of himself for a moment before responding. "Back in Central. He was hurt and had to be taken to the hospital."

"Oh no…something did happen!" He began to panic, afraid that his fears for Ed's safety had come true.

"Calm down, Alphonse. It was only a minor wound. Must have received it during your heroic battle. I'm sure he'll be fully recovered by the time we return!"

Al looked down, relieved, but a little disappointed. "So, he's not coming?"

"Im sorry, Alphonse. Colonel Mustang gave him direct orders to stay and recover. He had no choice in the matter."

Well, the statement was partially true. He certainly did not have a choice, being held hostage and all by Kimblee, but the Major had been given specific instructions to leave that part out. He hated lying to the boy, but there was nothing Al could do for him from here. They needed to focus on finding this alchemist.

"Why did the Colonel send you in his place?" Al asked, after a moment.

"Don't you know? The art of recovering child hostages without casualties has been passed down the Armstrong line for many generations!"

The boy just stared at the man. "Right…"

"I say boy, we're going to have to fix that armor of yours before we do anything else though."

"Can you do that?" Forgetting his previous concerns, he began to feel hopeful again.

"If we can find some metal scraps, you can help me with the array. I should be able to get you up and walking at least."

"If you could get to my broken parts, it would probably be enough, but those are back at the terrorist hideout. It might be too dangerous…"

"Nonsense! Nothing is too dangerous for my muscles and my alchemy!" He flexed once more.

"Are you sure?" Even without an actual body, the concern in his voice was clearly evident.

"Leave it to me, Alphonse!" Armstrong motioned to his soldiers. "I will leave these two here with you, just incase. Be on your guard, but try to stay hidden until I return. And protect Alphonse at all costs!"

"Sir!" They saluted and took position on either side of the armored boy.

"Thanks, Major."

A small part of Al was saddened that Ed didn't return, like he had promised. It wasn't like his stubborn older brother to lie in a hospital and let other people do his job for him, but Al knew that the mission was more important than his hurt feelings right now. As long as his brother was safe, he could handle working with the major. He was too lost in his thoughts to miss the clear look of distress on Armstrong's face that would have alerted him to the peril Ed was truly in.

* * *

Somewhere, beneath the illustrious city of Central, Ed awoke a second time, disappointed to find he was still trapped with Kimblee. He couldn't recall at which point he had passed out, but the psycho seemed to be gone for the moment, much to his relief. He quickly noted that his thigh had been bandaged now as well, earning a slight smirk from him. Kimblee wasn't taking any chances on letting him die before he had finished his fun.

"Sick freak…" Ed mused.

Even though his body was beaten and bruised, he still clung to the small hope of escape that was fading with each passing hour. His captor had wasted no time decorating his small frame with blood that it was wonder he had lost consciousness. The cuts he could handle, really. It was when Kimblee got mad and knocked the wind out of him that was really getting to him. Every time he gasped for air, his lungs felt like they were being stabbed, and he never knew if that next breath would come and save him from certain death. He also learned that spitting in Kimblee's face was a major no-no, as he received a hard fist to his throat for that act of defiance. That was almost more painful than all the stab wounds he currently bore. Now he could barely speak without choking. He would have to settle for glaring daggers and hope that the determination on his face was enough to show Kimblee he wasn't breaking. This, of course, only resulted in more pain for the young boy. Even Ed had to admit it was all starting to become too much. For some reason his mind drifted to the Colonel, and he wondered what his superior was doing at the moment. Did the man even care that he was being tortured? Regardless of his ill feelings, he really did hope Roy was coming to save him. And preferably soon.

Footsteps alerted him to a presence coming back into the room.

"Glad you're awake." Kimblee smiled. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"I think you're getting soft, Kimblee. Patching me up and giving me all this time to rest." It was now Ed's turn to throw a malicious grin at his captor. "Better watch out or I'll gain enough of my strength back to bust out of here."

"Still confident, are we?" Kimblee crossed his arms in disappointment. "I guess I'll have to fix that. How about we let the real fun begin!"

The young Edward tried to keep a game face, but he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like Kimblee's idea of fun.

 _You better be out there looking for me._ _I don't know how much more of this I can take…_

* * *

"I'm not going to stop looking for Fullmetal until I find him!"

How dare the suggestion even be made that they stop searching for Ed. Clearly this man couldn't see the stress he had been under the past two days. Roy really needed to burn something, but he was trying very hard to save that anger for Kimblee.

Currently, Roy was standing in King Bradley's office, boldly raising his voice to the Furher of Amestris.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think it's the best use of our time and men when there are multiple terrorists out there kidnapping children by the handful." Bradley calmly stood before Roy with his hands folded behind his back.

"He's one of our own! You can't suggest I just leave him to that monster." The lack of emotion from his superior infuriated Roy to no end.

"One child is not more important than the many others who have already lost their lives to these criminals."

"He's..." Roy swallowed thickly, trying to suppress his anger. "He's important to me, sir. Please, you can have my men, just let me continue to search for him."

"We will stop the terrorists as well as Kimblee. I assure you of this, Colonel. Right now, figuring out their plan and stopping them before anyone else gets hurt is our priority. You are a valuable assets to the team and I cant afford to lose your help on this case."

"But sir—"

"That's an order, Mustang. You are dismissed."

Bradley saluted him with eyes narrowed, daring the Flame alchemist to protest one more time. Roy clenched his fist, turning his knuckles white. It was taking every ounce of self control to not set his whole office on fire. The shuffling of feet in the doorway reminded him that his lieutenant was watching. She would definitely shoot him if he tried anything stupid. Letting out a quiet sigh, he slowly raised his hand to salute back.

"Yes sir." He grit through his teeth.

He spun around, quickly racing past Riza and out of the office. It didn't take long for her to catch up as he stormed down the hallway.

"What are we going to do, sir?"

"We're going to help find these alchemists, just like the Furher said. Tell the others for me, will you Lieutenant?"

The look of desperation on his face made her stop in her tracks. He didn't wait for her to respond, but rather picked up his pace until finally reaching his own office. Without saying a word, he made his way to his desk and sat down in the chair. Crossing his fingers and setting his chin on them, he closed his eyes and zoned out the rest of his subordinates in the room. He heard his lieutenant walk in and start to explain the Furher's new orders to the rest of the men. There was a lot of protesting, but no one dared interrupt him personally. He wouldn't stop looking for Ed. That was never an option. But it was going to be extremely difficult not getting caught. That could ruin his whole career and dreams of being Fuhrer himself one day. It made so much more sense to just obey his orders and continue to climb the ladder of success, but this was Ed... When did he start to care so much for the boy? It wasn't that long ago he had found the brothers, desperate and alone. He knew right away that Ed was special, and boy did he look good discovering such talent. Funny how having the young prodigy under him had boosted his career, and now it threatened to take everything away.

 _How can you have this much affect on me kid?_

Just then, the phone on his desk rang, making his jump in surprise. It hadn't rung in last 48 hours, and it almost made him nervous to know who was on the other line. _Could it be Kimblee?_ When Roy realized everyone was waiting for him to answer, he found his courage and picked up the receiver.

"Colonel Mustang's office….Hughes?"

"Roy boy!"

He growled. "You know I hate that name. What do you want?"

"You said to call as soon as I found something. Well, I found something."

There was a moment of silence as Roy thought carefully. He couldn't be certain that his line wasn't tapped, so he had to choose his words wisely.

"I've been given orders to focus my attention on the situation in Aryyosut. Whatever you found will have to wait."

"I'm afraid it can't, Roy."

"Why's that?"

"Because Kimblee's part of that situation in Aryyosut."

A small gasp escaped Roy's lips. "What…"

"After what I've found, I'm pretty sure he's been leading the whole operation."

 _So Kimblee's connected to all the other kidnappings as well?_ Things were finally starting to make sense.

Maes continued. "I don't know what they're planning, but it must have something to do with Ed, which means you have to find him now. I will go to Arryosut to help Alphonse and the others. You get Ed out of there now."

This time a small smile played on his lips. "I can always count on you, Hughes."

"Don't thank me yet. That's not even the best part. I've also got a lead on where to start looking." He paused for a moment. "Okay, now you can thank me."

For the first time in the past two days, Roy was starting to feel a shimmer of hope.

"This is exactly what I needed. Thank you."

* * *

"So, are you giving up yet?"

Kimblee's sadistic tone mocked Ed as he reeled from the last attack. It took several seconds before he finally got his breathing under control and could speak on an audible level.

"I already…told you…I'm not…cracking."

It wasn't the grand defiance he was usually known for, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. Kimblee looked unimpressed at his attempt to sound tough, but let it go easily enough without any more pestering on the matter.

"Well, what shall we play next, hm?"

His annoying delight returned as he scanned the boy for a weak spot. His eyes carefully followed Ed's exposed chest downward until they settled on the crotch of his pants.

"Tell me, Edward, how much action has a fourteen year old boy like yourself gotten?"

Ed's face turned a bright shade of red as he fumed with anger.

"None of your business, you freak!"

The man scoffed. "I'll take that as none. Want me to show you how it's done?"

Kimblee started walking slowly towards his captor. Ed tugged on his restraints even though he knew it was in vain. _No…I can't let this happen!_

"S-Stay away from me!" Ed yelled.

He smirked. "Don't feel special or anything. I've done younger and much cuter than you."

He removed the boy's belt and began to undo his pants, causing Ed to cry out in absolute horror.

"No! D-Don't do this! Stop it, p _lease!"_

A strangled cry and a few tears escaped him. He squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth for the nightmare he was about to experience. This would break him- he was sure of it. He waited each agonizing second to feel something, but nothing happened. Was Kimblee just waiting for him to look? Hesitantly, he did. That's when a burst of laughter erupted from the man whom he was sure had been getting ready to rape him.

"Hahaha! Man, you should have seen your face!"

"W-What?" Ed blinked in confusion.

"Even I'm not that crazy." Kimblee started. "Though traumatizing you is too much fun, really. "

"What! Why you little piece of…" Ed couldn't quite get out what he wanted to say. His whole body was shaking, and he was pretty sure it was more out of fear than anger.

Kimblee was still doubled over in laughter. "Well I guess if nothing else breaks you we can always go back to that. But I have something a little more exciting in store. Something that will really blow your mind." There was that sinister grin again.

Now Ed was truly terrified. He fought back the tears as he tried to focus. "Tell me why you're doing this Kimblee!"

The man's grin widened. "Because it's fun, because you're in pain, blah blah blah. Oh and because colonel daddy will be devastated when he sees your bloody, lifeless body. Because when he's finally defeated and at his weakest, I'll put him out of his misery too."

Ed growled. "Well I'll be sure to thank him for the hell you've been giving me."

"Oh come on, you haven't figured it out yet? I thought you were supposed to be a child prodigy." He crossed his arms in a pouting fashion. "You see, we found that children were able to withstand the experiments much longer than the adults."

The boy held his breath for a moment at the horrific realization that Kimblee was one of the terrorists they had been hunting down.

"You mean...this whole time...you were after me and Al?" _Oh no...Alphonse!_

The man rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Not you, little alchemist. Even with all your skill and talent, your tiny body wouldn't be able to handle the kinds of things I went through."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE WOULD—"

"But your brother, on the other hand..."

Ed's heart started pounding a little faster. "You better leave him out of this or I swear..."

"Oh you naive child. You'll do nothing except stand there until I let you go. And surely you've figured out by now I'm not letting you go alive."

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that." Ed tried his best to not look scared. "So why don't you tell me what you're really planning."

"You know, I think you've been resting long enough. Now who wants to play some more!"

Even if Ed had a choice in the matter, the man had already walked away before he could answer, gathering up a piece of equipment stashed in the corner. Ed peered at the object, scared of what it may be. Kimblee pulled out long wires from the device that had small clamps at the end. He then made his way back to Ed and attached two different wires to him. The clamps pinched his skin tightly, making him squirm against his restraints.

"This here is a beautiful masterpiece, Edward. Why, I think you're really going to get a kick out this game."

Ed's eyes widened in horror. _Kick…An electrical shocking machine!_ He tried his best to look tough, but he knew what was coming, and it made him wonder if he was better off dead.

 _Where are you, Roy?!_

* * *

 ** _So I didn't have the heart to let Kimblee rape Ed. It seemed too cruel, and I don't think Kimblee is the kind of person who would do that anyway. I just wanted to put Ed through a little emotional trauma, cause I can't resist torturing him :)_**

 ** _There are no doubt mistakes in this chapter, cause no Beta for one and I just didn't have a lot of time to edit this past week. I'm still not satisfied with the published product, but I was already a day late posting, so yeah. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts! Chapter six will be solely dedicated to Al (and a little Roy.) It's not the longest chapter, but it's full of action for our little brother!_**

 **Fun facts! I had to google what rank Hughes was, because I honestly didn't know, and I was surprised to realize he and Roy were the same, before his death. I also threw a little camaraderie between the two, when Hughes begins to brag about his daughter and Roy yells at him for it, hoping it would make you laugh! Lastly, I really overdramatized Armstrong's personality, but I hope you enjoyed his running gag of things that "have been passed down the Armstrong line for many generations." :)**

* * *

 _*Only if your the kind of person who cares about technicality: (because I got a review about it.)_

 _Remember that this is a work of fiction, so there is a sense of freedom to over exaggerate on some things, but I do try to be realistic. If you recall, Ed used his auto-mail to break his fall in chapter 3, just like in brotherhood when he fell off that building fighting Kimblee in the North. The difference being that, that Ed cracked a joke about his growth being stunted while my Ed was a lot more distressed about everything else that had happened. Plus his muscles would have been super tense after that, which is why he said everything hurt. So before Kimblee officially started torturing him, he wasn't actually that inured. Sorry if that wasn't clarified well enough in the story._


	6. Chapter 6

**_Sorrrry for the late update guys! I have to be this thing called a "responsible adult" sometimes. Perhaps you've heard of it? Anyways, I worked REALLY hard on this chapter. Like way more than I thought I would have to. When I first wrote this, I was just doing it so Al could have a part in this story. As I went through and edited it, I realized how huge it was. So I had to either change what happened, or make it better. I wrote and re-wrote until I was finally satisfied with the result._** ** _I am hoping this chapter doesn't take away from the story as a whole. The focal point is still on Roy and Ed, but I really needed this to happen for...future stuff :)_**

 ** _(I also put a few quotes from brotherhood in this chapter, which made me really happy!)_**

 _ **I hope it was worth the wait, guys!**_

 ** _Disclaimer: Nopity nope._**

* * *

It only took Roy a few minutes after he hung up the phone to be out the door, chasing after the new lead. It was a miracle he got out of there so quickly, after threatening his men to not follow him. He could handle being court martialed, or even dismissed from the military altogether, but he couldn't drag them down with him. If the Fuhrer found out he was going after Ed, there would definitely be hell to pay. Of course, none of the reasons he gave were good enough, especially for his trusted first lieutenant. She never abandoned him, even if it meant disobeying a direct order. How he managed to escape without a bullet wound was beyond him. They let him go easily enough, but he had a feeling they wouldn't give in to his demands.

 _Stubborn bunch of fools. I couldn't have asked for a better family._ He smiled.

Roy scanned the empty tunnel ahead of him that he didn't even know existed until moments ago. Thank goodness his friend was such a genius at figuring this stuff out. He was about to go crazy not knowing where Ed was. He didn't even know why, or what fueled his emotions for the kid; but they were definitely there, pulling at his heart. Ripping through that face of masks he always wore. They were exposing him, making him vulnerable. He hated looking so weak, yet somehow it comforted him having someone to protect. It filled him with pride. Made him feel…love. It was a kind of love he had never experienced before. He knew he loved Riza, but the love he had for Ed was different. He wanted to help him succeed at getting his body back. Fight Ed's battles for him so the boy never had to get hurt again. Give him advice about growing up. He wanted to be his dad.

 _Dad sounds nice. He could use a good father, and I could even adopt him so he'll always have someone there for him._ He laughed at the ridiculous thought. _Yeah right, he'd never go for that. He probably hates me now._

A sad smile rested on his features. He was a little nervous as to how Ed was going to respond to him now, but all that mattered was getting to him before it was too late. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, ignoring the slight throbbing in his shoulder. It wasn't completely healed, but a little pain wouldn't stop him from burning Kimblee to a crisp. He couldn't wait. That creep was a dead man for sure. He was thankful Hughes went to Aryyosut for Alphonse. It was starting to seem like whatever the Crimson Alchemist was planning, it involved both Elrics. That always meant trouble for everyone. He cursed himself for not getting Al out of there sooner, but he trusted his friend would take care of things on that end.

 _You better be careful, Hughes. Who knows what we're up against this time._

That's when he heard it. Faintly, but he could hear it echoing throughout the long tunnel.

A scream.

Or rather, a continuous stream of screams, coming from a young voice he'd recognize anywhere.

"Ed!"

He was so close! Maybe he wouldn't be too late after all…

 _Just hang on a little longer, Ed. I'm coming!_

* * *

The solders were eerily quiet as everyone waited for the Armstrong Alchemist to return. Al really hoped nothing had happened to him. It was bad enough Ed was apparently injured and in the hospital. He certainly didn't want someone else getting hurt, knowing how tough these guys were. He needed to be thinking of a plan for when his armor was fixed. Unfortunately he didn't know if the last guy was still alone, or had gathered more alchemists to help him. He hated just sitting here and waiting. Unable to handle the silence any longer, he tried to make conversation with one of the soldiers, whom he realized was a young woman. Usually women were nicer than men. Well, unless their Hawkeye. Still, maybe she would give him some answers.

"Um, excuse me, ma'am?" He meekly called out.

"Lieutenant Maria Ross." She corrected him.

"Sorry. Lieutenant Ross, can you tell me what Ed's injuries are? I know he had gotten hurt during our fight, but it didn't seem bad enough to be admitted to the hospital. I wouldn't have even considered letting him go back to Central alone if it was life threatening."

"Sorry." Maria didn't even bother looking at Alphonse. "But I cannot disclose any information on his condition."

"That sounds a lot like he's badly injured but no one has the guts to tell me!" He raised his voice a little louder than necessarily, but was tired of being left in the dark all the time.

"You are not part of the military, therefore you are not entitled to any more details. The major explained his situation already. The Fullmetal Alchemist will return to normal active duty shortly."

Her response angered him to no end, but he knew arguing was futile. Ed would have bickered with the woman until she punched him out, but he could see when he wasn't going to win. Arguing was just a waste of time, as his time would be better spent thinking of ways to apprehend these terrorist alchemist and rescue the kidnapped children.

"Brother better be all right." He bluntly stated, before returning to his thoughts once more.

A screeching sound erupted in the distance, making everyone jump. The two soldiers drew their guns, aiming at the darkness before them, and listened for their cue to shoot.

"Major Armstrong, is that you?"

The soldier named Maria called out, but received no answer. Al focused his gaze in front of him, hoping to find the source of the noise. After several minutes, no other sounds or movement came. The two soldiers looked at each other and nodded in agreement that they were safe. Al was convinced of this as well, and finally began to relax when a sudden flash of blue caught his eye.

"Look out!" was all he could speak before he saw of another flash of white.

Then, all he could see was white. He looked around, confused. Just a moment ago, he was sitting in a warehouse that was completely dark.

 _Where am I?_

" _Alphonse…"_

"Who's there!" _Wait, that sounds like...me_

 _"I'm so lonely, Alphonse_ _…_ _"_

"Oh no!" _My soul is being pulled to the other side again!_

"Stop it! I can't go yet!"

"Alphonse!"

"No! I can't…"

"Snap out of it!"

"…Huh?" _That doesn't sound like me anymore_ _…_

"Wake up boy!"

"M-Major?"

Coming back to his senses, the room started to darken again and Al realized he was back in the warehouse.

"Thank the heavens!" The Strong-arm Alchemist was kneeling next to him, crying tears of joy. "I was afraid we had lost you!"

"What just happened?" He remembered seeing the flash of alchemy, then whiteness exploding all around him.

"We were attacked." The lieutenant spoke up. "Thankfully Major Armstrong showed up just in time to stop him."

She pointed her gaze to an unconscious man lying on the ground. That's when Al noticed the Strongarm Alchemist was bleeding from his forehead on top of a few cuts and bruises across his bare chest.

"You're hurt…" Alphonse hated seeing people get hurt because of him. "Are you okay?"

"I told you boy, it's going to take a lot more than one philosopher stone to bring me down."

He held up a shiny rock in his hand, mesmerizing Al with its power.

"I believe, with this, I can fix your armor."

This was the stone he and his brother had been searching two years for, but the price that came with creating one weighed heavily on his convictions.

"I-I can't. Brother and I promised we wouldn't use it."

"Alphonse, I lack the talent and equivalent exchange to get you up and walking again. Your parts were completely shattered, and you cant fight like this."

"Just carry me then!"

"If we move you, your blood seal will crack completely." The Lieutenant pointed out.

Al glared at her, as best as a piece of helmet could. She was right. They both were.

"Dang it! This is unfair!"

Armstrong placed the stone into the armor's remaining hand.

"I understand the stone requires human sacrifices to make, so don't use it for yourself. Use it to save other's lives instead." **(1)**

"But—"

"You deserve it, because even though they've been put into that stone, you still recognize them as people. And now those people, even though they're trapped in stone, they still want to fight to protect what matters to them." **(2)**

"Major…"

"So far, the stone has only been used for destruction, but wouldn't it be a beautiful thing to create something with it as well?"

Al thought hard. _If Ed were here, what would he do?_

But he already knew the answer. Ed would choose to save as many lives as he could.

"Alright." He finally spoke. "I'll use it, because they deserve the chance to fight too." **(3)**

They all watched in amazement at Al's display of alchemy. Blue light burst from his body as his armor regenerated back into its original form.

"Let's finished this once and for all."

* * *

As Major Armstrong led them towards an abandoned laboratory, Al could tell something was wrong. The muscled man had hardly spoken to him, unless necessary. That was not the normal behavior he exhibited towards the boys. It was especially obvious with how tight lipped Lieutenant Ross had been about Ed. Even without a body, Al still had a sinking feeling. It was how he felt the night they tried to bring back their mother.

 _What aren't they telling me?_

He didn't know why, but he was also feeling nervous. Even with the philosopher stone in his grasp, Al couldn't help but feel weird not having Ed fight along side him. Here he was, on a mission with a military that he wasn't part of, while Ed was confined to a hospital bed. Together, they made an unstoppable team, but being on his own felt like a piece of him was missing. Well, more pieces than usual. All signs pointed to them lying to him about Ed's injuries too. If that was the case, he needed to stay strong for his brother. The sooner they completed the mission, the sooner he could get back to help him.

He wondered what they would find down here. So far, it just looked like a run down building that hadn't been used in years. Tools and garbage still scattered the floor, and dust had taken captive over everything. The only thing that seemed odd were the emergency lights that barely lit up their path. Surely there would be no electricity running in an abandoned building. He looked up at the man walking in front if him, then glanced back at the soldiers behind.

"We had better keep an eye out. Brother and I had a hard time fighting off those guys earlier. The last thing we want is to be caught off-"

Al's voice trailed off as his gaze focused back on what was in front of him. He couldn't smell it, but the sight was enough to make him feel like he would have thrown up if he had a body. Lifeless bodies scattered the floor, covered in pools of blood. It looked like a massacre, but he knew better. This was the result of some sick experiment. He could hear whispers behind him, and even the Major seemed to be greatly affected by it.

"Alphonse. What...what happened here?"

He lowered his head, not wanting to see it any longer. "Experiments…"

"Whoever has done this is a sick man. We need to end this once and for all!"

The major ripped off his shirt and prepared for battle. Al was about to yell at him until a loud voice stopped him.

"Alphonse Elric! Just the guy we were looking for. Or should I say, suit of armor? Which do you prefer?"

Al's soul fire eyes glared in the direction of the voice. "What do you want with me?"

Bright lights appeared all around them so that he could now see the person who had been speaking; and also that they were surrounded by four other men who were, no doubt, all alchemists.

The man continued, ignoring Al's question. "Nice of you to drop by. I was hoping you'd figure out what we were up to. It made our job so much easier!"

The sinking feeling returned and Al realized what was going on.

"It's a trap!"

"Bingo." The man finally answered him. "And you're the main catch."

 _This cant be good._ "W-What do you mean by that?"

The man said nothing, but tossed something in the boy's direction. It fell at his feet, and he immediately recognized what it was.

"A Philosopher Stone!" _But wait_ _…_ Upon further inspection of the ground, he noticed there were also symbols and markings carved all around him. _A transmutation circle!_

"This is probably going to hurt."

It was too late. Bright light shown all around him, engulfing Alphonse and one of the soldiers that had been standing too close. They were actually trying to fuse a stone into his armor! He had no clue if his soul could even handle that. He already knew It was only a matter of time before his body forced him back inside the gate. What would a Philosopher inside him even mean for someone without a physical body? _Wait a second_ _…_ He opened his hand to reveal the stone Armstrong had given him. It was glowing as well. _All of these Alchemist are using stones, probably created from the same massacre. Maybe they're connected somehow._

The Armstrong Alchemist had already started to attack the other men, along with his remaining soldier. Her bullets were no match for then men with Philosopher Stones, and even the major was getting tossed around like he was nothing. He was trying to concentrate, but the bright light that had swallowed Al was still glowing, and he couldn't see what was going on inside.

"Alphonse Elric! Can you hear me?" He tried calling out to the boy, but was met with a hard fist to the face that sent him flying backwards to the ground. He wasn't giving that easily.

"If you can hear me Alphonse, you have to fight it!"

Alphonse could only hear muffled yelling. The stone was fusing with him, and there was nothing he could do. The very stone that took many human sacrifices to make. The stone he and his brother vowed not to use. How could he sit here and let this happen?

 _Alphonse_ _…_ A strange, but familiar voice called out to him.

"Who was that!"

 _Are you ready to come home yet, Alphonse? Your body's been missing you._

"Truth!"

His soul was being pulled to the gate. And that's when he had an idea. It was a crazy idea that would most likely end in disaster. He might even lose his life forever, but doing something was better than giving these guys what they want. He had to try. For those who had died. For his country. For Ed. _Alright!_ He gazed at the rock in his hand. _You want to fight? Now's your chance! Please help me!_ Using the power of the philosopher stone, he quickly drew an array of his own, willfully letting let his soul be taken to the other side…

When the bright light finally faded, only Al's armor was left. It clanked and fell over to the ground with a loud thud.

"Alphonse!"

The bloodied major ran to the armor and tried to sit it upright.

"Say something boy! Please...say something."

* * *

 _A pale hand reached towards him. Al gladly took it, letting his armored body disintegrate while his soul fused with his real body once again._

"So, you've decided to return to your body after all."

Al was on the other side of the gate for the last time, face to face with Truth. Despite his body's fatigue and the emotional toll he was experiencing, he wasn't afraid at all.

"That's right. I don't want brother to bear this burden any longer. I'm done making him suffer."

"But you being here means that he failed, does it not? Surely when he finds out you're gone, he will give up everything to try and bring you back."

"He wont have to."

"And why is that?"

"Because I have a philosopher stone."

"What's a stone to me?"

"Thousands of souls. Souls that were ripped from their bodies, like mine. Souls that suffer each time this stone is used. I want you take it as my equivalent exchange, and destroy it, so it cant hurt anyone else."

"Interesting…but you do realize that by using this stone, you'll be causing them pain as well."

"Giving it to you freely would still keep them trapped inside, but using it like this will put an end to their suffering. You can have the other four stones connected to it as well. Take the lives of those sick alchemists if you have to. It's all equivalent exchange."

"I see. Why, I didn't know you could be so cold, Alphonse."

"The end result will be the same. Those tortured souls will be put to rest and those men will pay for their crimes. This is justice."

His weak and feeble hand trembled as he held out the stone in front of him.

"Now, bring me back Truth!"

* * *

 ** _So right now you're probably thinking something along the lines of WHAT! I really wanted to let Al take care of himself for once. Ed has always rescued him, even in other fanfics I've read. Al is just as smart and skilled as His brother, and I wanted that aspect to shine through in this story. I read some of the manga to see how he reacts when offered the Philosopher stone to fight Pride and Kimblee, and he basically doesn't argue at all, so I didn't think this was too far-fetched. To me, Al's character is portrayed as someone who would have the guts to do this. Plus I thought it would be cool for him to actually use the stone to (possibly) get his body back, being that the entire manga/anime/whatever is based on that exact hope._**

 _ **As to whether or not his plan works...well like any evil writer, you're just going to have to read more to find out! (I'm not promising his return, so beware!)**_

 _ **P. S. Did you guys recognize the quotes? (Footnotes are at the bottom.)**_

 **I'm kinda scared to ask this, but I wanna know what you thought!**

* * *

 **(1.)** Partial quote from Heinkel when he tries to convince Al to use the stone to defeat pride in brotherhood.

 **(2.)** Direct quote from Heinkel! Might have seemed a bit dramatic, but I wanted to use his exacts words.

 **(3.)** Another partial quote, which was also said by Heinkel, even though Al says it here.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hello again! Sorry the updates have been a bit sporadic. I will never complain about someone taking too long to update again. (That's a lie.)**_

 _ **Anywho, I thought you'd like to know that there are 10 chapters total, so we are getting close to the end! These last few chapters are my favorite parts of this whole story, so I hope you love them too.**_ _ **Kimblee tries to be nasty to Ed again in this chapter, but it's nothing too descriptive.**_

 _ **The chapter you have all been waiting for people! Will Roy save Ed, or be dragged down with him?**_

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

How long can a person scream before they lose their voice? Will it make the pain any less if they do? These were the questions running through Ed's mind as electricity surged in his body. That, and how many fourteen year olds had died from a heart attack, because he was pretty sure his heart was going to explode. Having his nerves attached to auto-mail was pretty freaking rough. And being chained up and tortured had definitely taken an emotional toll on him. But this. This kind of cruelty was in a whole league of its own. The human body was not meant to be a lightning rod, and he just couldn't fathom why a device of this nature was ever created. It wasn't just his nerves now. Every muscle, every bone, every fiber in his fragile little body screamed at him, and he involuntarily screamed back. Kimblee had been testing out each setting with such twisted satisfaction. He was curious to see how long Ed could remain conscious.

"Come on, Ed. If you pass out now, you just might live through this. Keep this up and we wont be able to play any more games. That pipsqueak body of yours can only handle so much, after all."

 _Oh no he didn't._ As if the mocking wasn't bad enough, he was still being made fun of for his size, while being tortured. But what was he going to do? At this point he couldn't even glare at the man. The pain he felt was evidently shown all over his face. In this moment, Ed felt completely stripped of his pride. Kimblee could rape him now, and it would all just chalk up to another painful experience in his mind.

 _Does this mean I'm breaking?_

"W-Why…why this? You're an a-alchem…ist." Breathing and talking simultaneously had become increasingly difficult.

Kimblee took his hand off the machine and pondered Ed's question. "You mean why not use my alchemy on you? That should be obvious. I have a Philosopher stone in me. I would kill you way too easily, and that would be no fun at all."

"But...w-what's the p-point!? I have n-nothing to offer y-you."

"No, you don't. But your brother does." Ed was becoming sick of that smirk of his.

"You think you're so smart, don't you, Fullmetal Alchemist." He scoffed. "You only found our hideout in Aryyosut because _I_ wanted you to.

"W-What?" _This whole thing was planned?_

"Then, you made things even easier for me by leaving to go ask Colonel daddy for help. I followed you back to headquarters and brought you here to keep you and Alphonse separated. I knew Flamey would be so worried about you, he wouldn't figure out my real plan until it was already too late. That way my men could take care of your brother while I had some fun with you."

"W-What do you w-want with him!?" There was a flicker of that usual fire in his eyes upon hearing his brother was in danger.

"His body is immortal. Won't age, won't die. Why, even I have my limits. But Alphonse…he's the ultimate weapon!"

"He's a p-person!"

"He's perfect."

"Use m-me instead. P-please!"

"Trust me, your tiny body couldn't handle the things I had to go through to get like this."

The comment actually elicited a glare from Ed, making him proud of himself for mustering up the strength.

"Don't worry, this will all be over soon, as I'm sure the Colonel has been desperately looking for you. All thats left is for him to watch me kill you, and then it's his turn!"

Ed said nothing but leaned his head against the wall to try and breathe easier. He continued to pant, like he couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs. With a board expression, Kimblee grabbed the machine again and twisted the knob two levels higher this time. He threw his hand over the button. Ed flinched and jerked his eyes shut. He gasped in anticipation, but once again, felt nothing. Instead, more laughter came from the sick man.

"Gotcha again! I just love watching you coil like a scared puppy. I don't know how I'll ever enjoy anything as much as torturing you."

"You sick bast—Ahhhh!" Ed hadn't been ready for that one. His insides burning like fire, he briefly wondered if this was what Roy's flames felt like. Speaking of, was the man ever going to save him, or was this really his fate?

 _How could you let me suffer like this?_

"Still awake there, Kiddo?"

"Please, s-stop…" Ed couldn't believe he was actually begging."I c-can't do this anymore. Just k-kill me."

It didn't feel like a terrible thing to ask. He was going to die here anyway, so why not now? He was ready to die. Living wasn't worth the pain any longer. Kimblee glared at Ed as he walked towards him. He grabbed him by the throat and jerked him forward. Ed cried out in pain, but the man ignored his whimpering.

"Listen to me very carefully, Edward. You'll die when I say so, and not a second sooner. Do you understand me?" He squeezed harder until Ed had no choice but to respond.

"y-y…es!" Kimblee released his grip and walked back to his toy.

"Good boy. Let's continue!"

Tears were flowing steadily down his cheeks, but Ed didn't care. This was the moment he dreaded of having his whole life. The moment where he succumbed to helplessness and gave in. Not even Al could bring back his sanity now. All he could do was stand there, chained to the wall like an animal. Forced to take any punishment given to him. The only way he knew he was still alive was the feeling of his heart pounding in his chest.

 _Al...I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I can't keep my promise to give you your body back. Please be safe_ _._ _You've always been smarter than me. I know you'll figure it out. I love you._

There were no more smartelic comments to be thrown. No more glaring daggers at the man who was causing him so much pain. He was just…done.

Ed cried out in frustrated defeat, and hung his head.

"Y-You win…Kimblee."

* * *

After what felt like hours of constant pain, Ed couldn't even scream anymore. He just sat there in silent protest, begging his body to stop working, thus ending this wretched torture.

"This game is getting boring." Kimblee yawned dramatically.

 _Please, no more!_ Ed thought. _Anything but more of this!_

He gazed at Kimblee with pleading eyes, hoping the man would show just a little mercy.

"What should we play now? Hmm, I know! That tongue of yours has been a problem since I brought you here. I should have thought to cut it out a long time ago." He grinned maliciously and walked towards Ed. "Or perhaps I should take your eyes first."

Apparently the Crimson Alchemist knew nothing of mercy. Ed started to tremble at the words of his captor. Could this guy be any more sick? Kimblee pinned his head in place with one hand and held up a blade to his left eye with the other. Ed froze. Nothing in his body would move. He held his breath and stared at the point of the blade- the last thing he might ever see. What a sight to go out on. It didn't seem right, considering all the other things he had witnessed throughout his short life. Even if he really was going to die here, this was just wrong. He panicked, even though he could do nothing but watch.

 _Where are you!?_

"Have you had a good look?" Kimblee inched the blade closer.

 _You said you would be there for me…_

"Those golden eyes of yours will make a beautiful display!"

He felt something sharp touch the corner of his eye, and thats when he could no longer contain himself.

"ROY!"

He hadn't meant to scream the Colonel's name out loud, but he no longer cared what anyone thought, just as long as Mustang came for him. Like right now, to be exact. That man was the closest thing he had to an actual father, and he thought for sure Roy would be the one to come and rescue him. It caught Kimblee of guard as well, because he pulled the blade back and started laughing at the boy.

"Oh, how precious! I knew you cared about the Colonel."

"I'm afraid he's not coming to save you in time."

"You're wrong about that one, Kimblee!" A familiar voice shouted behind him.

"R-Roy…!"

Sure enough, it was Colonel Roy Mustang, and he was just in time.

"Roy Mustang, I was wondering when you'd show up. A little earlier than expected, I'll admit."

Ignoring Kimblee's comment, Roy shot a glance at Ed. He didn't look good, but he was alive.

"Im sorry it took me so long to find you, Ed, but i'm here now; and I'm taking you home."

The young boy couldn't help but tear up at the words he had longed to hear for so long.

Kimblee just crossed his arms in disapproval.

"You know you threw us all for quite a loop with that whole Flame Alchemy ruse." Roy turned back to Kimblee. "You can thank Hughes for figuring it out though. He may be a sap, but nothing gets pasts that guy."

"I knew I should have killed him…" Kimblee pouted.

"Shut up!" Kimblee's statement caused sparks to go off in Roy's eyes. "I have done nothing but worry about that boy you've been torturing for the past two and a half days. Now I have a stack of paperwork a mile high, and enough stress to last a lifetime. You are going to pay dearly for that!"

Without another word, Roy charged at Kimblee full speed. The action caught the Crimson alchemist off guard, as he was expecting a fight with alchemy. Roy had his fist balled and landed a right hook across Kimblee's face. The man just stood there and took the hit. Roy then threw several other punches and ended with a nice, hard kick to his gut. When he was finished, Roy stepped back to catch his breath. Kimblee had barely even flinched when he was kicked in the stomach. He just laughed at the Colonels efforts, completely unfazed. In an equivalent exchange, he kicked Roy in the stomach, knocking him quite a few feet back.

"Was that supposed to be an attack, or did you just need to relieve some stress?"

Roy growled. "So the stone really does amplify your body. I wanted to test its power for myself."

"Well, then you're going to love what I have in store. Too bad you wont live long enough to see my master plan accomplished though. As we speak, my men are creating the ultimate weapon. The boy with no body- Alphonse Elric!"

"Please…you c-cant take him f-from me.."

 _Wait, did Ed just beg?_ Roy winced at the thought. _That's a really bad sign._ Ed never begged for anything.

"Don't worry Ed, I am fully confident your brother would never let that happen. Plus Major Armstrong and Hughes are with him."

Then he turned to smirk at the Crimson Alchemist, who looked displeased with Roy's confidence.

"It looks like your little master plan has failed after all. So I'll be taking back my subordinate now."

The man growled. "Not so fast! Ed and I aren't done playing yet."

He dropped the blade and shoved his hand underneath Ed's still unbuttoned pants, smirking at Roy.

"Get your filthy hands off him!" Roy charged at the man full speed, but Kimblee threw him back with a blast of his alchemy. He growled to hide the pain that shot through his shoulder. He was really getting tired of falling on his but.

"Colonel…"

It was hardly audible, but he jerked his head up as soon as he heard it. Ed's eyes pleaded silently with him to make it stop. Roy wanted to cry at seeing how hopeless Ed had become. He didn't even tense up at Kimblee's touch, or spit out any of his usual colorful language. It was much worse than he thought. Ed was completely broken. But even if Ed didn't visibly show emotion, he knew the boy was dying on the inside. He had to stop this now.

"I said to stop!" He ran forward again, just barely dodging another attack. He couldn't get close this way.

Kimblee yawned and pushed his hand down further, knowing fully well that Roy couldn't use his alchemy without hurting Ed.

"Please, you cant stop me. You cant do anything. Might as well just sit back and enjoy the show."

Kimblee must have found what he was looking for, because Ed's face suddenly scrunched up in pain.

"Don't do this, Kimblee! He's just a child! Haven't you hurt him enough already?"

The man just snickered, not even bothering to look at him. "You crack me up, Roy Mustang! I never thought I would see such an emotional side of you. It's too much, really."

Roy knew he needed to act now. He charged a third time, rolling out of the way when Kimblee attacked. He threw his hands up over his face as he pressed on, desperate to get close enough. The attacks were a continuous stream of explosions, not giving Roy any time to counter or get closer. If that sick man would just move his hand away from Ed long enough...

"Consider this your payback for interfering with my plans!"

Roy had no other options now. He closed his eyes and stood still. He had been doing a lot more than just looking for Ed the past few days. He knew he needed to be stronger when he faced Kimblee again. Now was the time to see if his hard work had paid off. Kimblee stopped attacking, but kept his hand facing towards Roy. He stared at him with curious confusion.

"Giving up already? How—"

"Shut up!" Roy snapped, calmly and effectively. Kimblee's hand burst into flames as the Flame Alchemist opened his eyes. The other alchemist grunted at the sudden explosion of pain, ripping his hand from Ed's pants to soothe the burn.

"That's not possible! You can't control your flames like that!"

"Roy smirked with satisfaction. "Thats not even my best trick."

He raised his hand again, putting Kimblee on the defensive this time.

"Go to hell."

Snapping again, the crimson alchemist threw himself out the way to dodge Roy's flames.

 _Fool! Ed is directly behind me. He's going to finish off his own subordinate! Haha—what!_

"AHHH!" Kimblee shrieked in surprise, as he lit up with fire "No! How did you—Gahhhhh!" His body was engulfed in flames as he slowly fell to his knees. He finally toppled over face first in a smokey heap of blood and mangled flesh. Roy breathed a sigh of relief. It was all finally over. He would have celebrated if he hadn't been suddenly sprayed in the face with water. His alchemy must have triggered the sprinkler in the ceiling, soaking his gloves. He sighed in aggravation. At least he didn't need them anymore. It was obviously an old facility, and thankfully the water didn't last long. He glanced at Ed, who looked unconscious now, then back at the Crimson Alchemist.

"You want to know how I landed a direct hit on you? You should have been paying closer attention when I threw those punches at you."

Roy smiled to himself. He had only attacked Kimblee earlier so that he could get close enough to slip a piece of paper with a transmutation array sketched on it into his pocket. With his recent training, this allowed him to focus his attack in a particular spot, so no matter how Kimblee dodged, he would get hit head on. Some might call it a dirty trick, but he did whatever was necessary to stop the man that had caused Ed so much pain. He would gladly break every rule there was to save him from going through that hell again. Remembering his subordinate, he ran over to Ed as fast as he could. The first thing he noticed was the knife in the boy's palm that had become a rather large gash for a stab wound. He didn't have to use alchemy, since the blade wasn't even touching Ed's skin. He pulled it out gently and let it fall to the ground. Now onto the restraints. It took much longer than he wanted, but he carefully sketched a transmutation that would break all of Ed's locks at once. Immediately Ed fell forward, his legs unable to bear the weight. Roy quickly caught him and wrapped his arms around him. He held him there for a moment, soaking in his relief.

"Don't worry Ed, I've got you. I've got you and I promise to protect you with my life."

He lowered himself and the boy, so that Ed was sitting. He needed to examine his injuries to see if Ed's body could even handle being carried back to the surface. It didn't take long to notice all the gashes and burns. Roy hung his head in shame. He tried to hold them back, but the tears flowed anyway. He thought Ed looked rough when Kimblee had gotten a hold of him the first time. Looking at him now, he was a lot more than half-dead. He quickly tore off pieces of his jacket and began to wrap Ed's hand. Even though he tried to be as gentle as possible, the boy still cried out at his touch, making Roy cringe even more.

"I'm so sorry, Ed. I'm so, _so_ sorry."

He used another piece to bandage a large gash on Ed's head, hoping it would be enough to stop him from bleeding out before he could get help.

"C-Colonel…"

"Ed!" Roy jumped when he heard the boy speak, not expecting him to be conscious.

"M-Make it s-stop. Please, R-Roy."

His heart broke. This was what he had been afraid of. Ed was completely shattered. Broken to the point of actually wanting to die. Killing Kimblee wasn't justice enough for what Ed had suffered. He cursed and pulled the boy close to him.

"You're safe now, Ed. I promise. No one is ever going to hurt you agai—"

"You might want to make sure your enemy is dead before you let your guard down."

He snapped as quickly as he could, but forgot that his wet gloved couldn't make a flame. _Crap!_ He looked up at a body, barely recognizable as human now, standing over him. Kimblee's eyes glared at Roy in determination, making him cringe. _We're so dead…_

"How the heck are you still alive! I burnt you to a crisp. There's no freaking way anyone could survive that!"

Kimblee raised his bloody hands in preparation to attack. He had cut his remaining flesh to fix the parts of his transmutation circle that had been messed up.

"You forget I'm no normal human. Sure, my body may not be able to heal my wounds, but it can withstand much more damage than that pathetic excuse for a flame!"

Roy leaned his body over Ed to protect him as much as possible. He knew Kimblee was going to attack, and he knew it was futile to run. Either way this played out, they were both dead. He whispered last words into Ed's ear.

"I lied again…I can't save you… " He cried. "I'm sorry!."

Roy squeezed his eyes shut and listened for the explosion to erupt.

* * *

 _ **Cliffies are fun :) Actually it just kinda worked out to end here.**_

 _ **What to expect for chapter 8: Tears. Whether they are good tears or bad, you will have to wait and see!**_

 _ **P.S. You guys should help me get to 100 reviews. It just sounds like a big number and would make me feel special, haha. Either way, I always love knowing your thoughts!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**_So, some twisted part of me wants to make you guys wait longer for updates, cause it's almost over now and that makes me sad. But! I have plans...future plans that I think you'll like!_**

 _ **Also, I've had a lot of guests review, and since I can't respond to them directly, here's a general thank you to my guests for your awesome reviews! Also congratulations to whoever reviewed chapter 6 (talking about Roy burning Kimblee, but he doesn't die right away...) for successfully predicting chapter 7! That's kinda sorta what happened, haha. I already had that part written too, so good job!**_

 _ **I don't know if you guys even read the author's note, so I'll stop and let you get to chappy 8! I'm pretty sure you'll shed a few tears in this one. At least, that's what I was aiming for ;)**_

 ***Eight chapters in and I still do not own***

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

Roy held his breath and waited for his demise. There was still so much more he wanted to do. Become Fuhrer, persuade Riza to marry him, force all the female officers to wear mini skirts… Okay, maybe that last one wasn't super important, but how was he going to conquer the world if he couldn't even save the life of one boy?

"You can't use your alchemy, ha!"

Instead of an explosion, Roy felt something grab his wrist so that he looked up, and was met with a hard punch across his face. The force knocked him onto his back, where he then received an even harder kick in his side. He coiled up at the amount of pain it caused. With a Philosopher Stone, Kimblee's hits were much more powerful than his own. He sat himself upright, just as the man attacked again. Kimblee threw another punch, knocking him to the side, but he quickly recovered, scooting backwards in a feeble attempt to escape.

"I love it when they try to run!"

It didn't take long before Roy had backed himself into a wall. He quickly drew the gun that he had almost forgot he was carrying. Taking aim, he shot, grazing Kimblee's left shoulder. Naturally, this did not make the madman happy.

"You'll pay for that!" He charged as he yelled.

Roy pulled the trigger once more, but the other alchemist was well prepared this time. He turned to the side and shoved Roy's hand away, so that the gun shot off into the corner of the room instead. He then got on top of Roy and grabbed his wrist, throwing it against the wall so that he released the gun. Once the man was defenseless, Kimblee took great pleasure in returning the array of punches that had been dealt to him earlier.

"Did you really think you were going to beat me, Colonel? I thought you were smarter than that!"

Blood dripped from both Roy's nose and mouth. He didn't know how long he'd be able to last against attacks like these. During his time in the military, he had gotten into plenty of fist fights, but none of them felt like this. Kimblee was a killing machine that never stopped, never slowed down, and never showed mercy.

 _Why doesn't he just use his alchemy already and get it over with?_

He already knew the answer. The Crimson Alchemist took great pleasure in torture. He tried to peer behind the man at the doorway he had come through.

 _Where are they?_

Kimblee ceased his punching, wrapping his hand around a throat instead. He squeezed. Roy gasped.

"Any last words?" He placed his free hand to Mustang's chest.

 _Come on_! He begged silently. All he could voice was a strangled gasp for air.

"What's that?" Kimblee teased. "You want to watch me kill the boy first?"

"N-No!"

Roy tried his hardest to peel Kimblee's hand away from his throat, but the combination of the stone and his fatigue left him utterly helpless. He tried to glance at Ed as his vision started to blur. Was the boy even still alive?

Y _ou better not die before me, kid._

He reached a hand towards the boy who had been like a son to him. Letting it fall in defeat, he touched something sharp lying on the ground.

"You should have known better than to come alone. Now you can watch your youngest subordinate take his last breath!" Kimblee removed his hand from Roy's chest and raised it towards Ed instead.

And that's when saw it. Blond. Beautiful. He smiled at the psycho, who was still suffocating him.

"You're w-wrong about one thing." Roy stammered. "I d-didn't come alone!"

Kimblee's eyes widened. "What!"

"Now Lieutenant!" Roy yelled out, and immediately gunshots could be heard. Hawkeye ran in and shot off all her rounds at the enemy.

"I thought I already told you, bullets won't stop me!" Kimblee squeezed harder.

Roy smirked. "Maybe this will!"

He plunged something sharp into the hand that was wrapped around his throat.

"This is for Ed!"

Kimblee yelped in surprised and released his grip. With his hand still on the handle, Roy collided the man's injured hand with the one he still had raised toward Ed and pinned them both into the floor. Kimblee cursed Roy over and over, along with more yelling.

"Release me, you imbecile!" He tugged and strained, but both of his hands were stabbed completely through with the same knife he first hurt Ed with. They had been collided with the floor hard enough that he could not rip the blade out. This infuriated him to no end. "I swear I'll blow you to bits, Roy Mustang! I'll kill you and everyone you love! DO YOU HEAR ME!"

"Not if I fry you first!" Kimblee hadn't noticed Riza toss Roy his gloves. He had already put them on and raised his fingers to snap. For a second, he swore he saw fear in the other man's eyes. Then he snapped. It was a beautiful sound to the Flame Alchemist. Kimblee's body lit up in flames once more, drowning out the screams his body produced.

"If only there was more I could do to make you suffer."

Once the flames died down, the body before him was no longer recognizable. He didn't want to take his chances this time around, so he leaned down to inspect his handiwork. The stench told him there was no way he was still breathing, but he checked for a pulse to be sure. Hawkeye leaned down beside him, covering her face at the sight and smell.

"I was starting to think nothing could stop him." Roy stated quietly.

Remembering Ed, he stood up straight. "Lieutenant. Tie him up just incase, and get him out of my sight. I need to help Ed.

The first lieutenant saluted. "Yes sir!"

She went straight to work as Roy stumbled over to Ed.

"Cutting it kind of close, don't you think, Riza?" He didn't use her first name unless they were alone.

She widened her gaze for a moment, before a small smile played on her lips. "How did you know?"

"How did I know that you would come after me after I ordered you not to? That's easy. Because I'd do the same if I were you." Roy smiled. "I knew you had my back. You wouldn't have let him kill me or Ed. Why do you think I keep you around?"

"There are other reasons I can think of." She smirked, knowing he understood the comment.

Havoc and Breda came running into the room. "Colonel! We uh…well we were kind of searching for you, and then we heard a bunch of explosions and…what happened?"

Riza gestured towards Kimblee and they immediately understood, helping her with the body.

Roy turned to face his men. "Thank you. I couldn't have stopped him by myself. I am a truly lucky man to have gained such a great family."

He then ignored anything else that was said or done as he crouched beside the boy. Ed's breathing was coming in short, quick breaths now, and he looked deathly pale. He began to panic slightly.

"Ed! I order you to keep breathing. Do you hear me, Fullmetal?!"

He anxiously waited for any kind of sign from the boy. Keeping his eyes closed, Ed finally smirked and whispered, "You k-know how much I hate f-following your orders."

Roy gave a weak smile, tears filling his eyes. Gently picking up the boy, he could hear commotion in the background of Kimblee being dragged out of the room with Hawkeye and the others. Now it was finally over, and for real this time. _What an emotional roller coaster this day has been._ He promised himself that he'd never complain about mere paperwork again.

Silence filled the room and Roy looked over to confirm that Kimblee was gone. Relief was about to wash over him once more until…

 _It's too quiet in here._

He realized he could no longer hear Ed's ragged breaths.

"Edward!"

* * *

Immediately he placed the boy back on the ground and felt for a pulse.

Nothing.

"Don't do this to me, kid!"

He placed his ear to Ed's chest in hopes of hearing even the faintest heartbeat.

Still nothing.

"Dang it, Ed, I gave you an order! Please, please….breathe!"

Ed continued to lie there, pale and completely still, but Roy refused to accept his demise.

 _I'm not ready to let you die! Not before me._

He began performing chest compressions on the boy. CPR wasn't his specialty, but he knew enough. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10.

 _How many of these am I supposed to do?_

At least a minute had passed now and he had pumped about 100 times, but Ed still wasn't responding. He wished the lieutenant would hurry up and come back so he could have an ambulance called, but instead he was completely alone and it was all up to him to save Ed's life. After all, he had promised he would. He couldn't let the boy down now. He had failed him enough in just a few days to last an entire lifetime.

"I am not letting you off that easy! Do you hear me!?"

Suddenly Roy spotted something in the corner of the room. It was a machine with wires attached to it. Realizing what it was, he came up with a terrible idea. He cringed.

 _Kimblee must have tortured Ed to no end with that thing._

He cringed even more, thinking of what he was about to do with it himself. It may have been part of the reason Ed's heart stopped in the first place, but Roy was determined it was also going to make it beat again. He placed one of the ends on his chest, with no clue as to how this worked in real life. All he knew was that Ed wasn't breathing. Shocking him wasn't going to make him any more dead, and he certainly wasn't going to just sit here and watch his subordinate slip away even further. Medics would never make it in time to help him now anyway. He took a deep breath and pushed the button. Ed's body jerked as electricity surged through it. Roy leaned in, hoping to hear a heartbeat, but was left disappointed.

"Stop acting like a wimp and just breathe already!" He yelled angrily as tears flowed down his face.

He shocked Ed once more and waited eagerly for something. Anything. He slammed a fist into the ground and cried.

"…I can't lose you, Ed. _Please._ You're not supposed to die! I know you're too stubborn to just give up like this!" He cried harder. "I'll do anything! Are you listening?"

He looked up and prayed to a God he didn't believe in. Maybe whoever was in control of this whole universe would give him a break, just this once. All he needed was one miracle. With tear filled eyes and shaking hands, he lifted the boy's head up to his chest and held onto him tightly. Realization began to hit that Ed was really gone.

"I wish I would have told you this when I had the chance…you were the son I never got to have, Ed. I don't know if you knew this but…" He chuckled. "Well I even considered adopting you. If you wanted, of course. I just….I thought for sure we'd have more time…"

He closed his eyes and finally accepted the boy's death, letting a few more tears escape.

"I love you, Edward."

...

...

...

"Love you too, Roy."

"W-What?"

Roy's heart started pounding as he pushed himself away from Ed.

 _Am I just hearing things…or?_

He almost jumped when he saw golden eyes staring at him. Those eyes he thought he'd never see again.

"Ed! Oh, thank God!"

He brought the young boy close once more and held on tightly, afraid of losing him again.

"Thought you didn't believe in God…" Ed closed his eyes and smirked.

Roy laughed in relief. "Well, I prayed that God would prove He was real by bringing you back to me. So it looks like I'm going to start."

Ed looked at him once more and smiled, before drifting off into unconsciousness.

Roy picked him up in his arms and walked towards their freedom.

"Let's go home, Ed."

* * *

 _This is nothing compared to what I have in store for you!_

 _You're just lucky your brother is so useful to us, or he_ _'_ _d be right here with you_

 _Those golden eyes of yours will make a beautiful display!_

"NO!"

Ed shot up and gripped the side of his hospital bed, covered in sweat. Roy immediately appeared at his side.

"Ed! Hey, it's okay. It's all over. You're safe now."

He went to brush back the bangs from Ed's face, but the boy flinched when his hand neared him. He realized the poor kid was still shaken up and noted that he probably shouldn't make any quick movements around him just yet. Ed just stared at him, making Roy wonder what he could be thinking. The boy's eyes suddenly widened as if he'd realized something. He started to panic, trying to speak, but seeming unable to form any words. Roy frowned.

"Calm down, Ed. What is it?"

He subconsciously reached for Roy's hand and squeezed as hard as he could.

"A-Al…Alphonse!"

Roy remembered that he didn't know about his little brother yet. As badly as he needed to know the truth, Roy knew there was no way Ed could handle that right now. He would just have to come up with something to satisfy the boy in the meantime.

"Don't worry, your brother is fine." _More or less._ "Hughes caught up with Kimblee's men before they did anything."

It was at least true that Hughes _had_ caught the other alchemists. For now it would have to do. Ed seemed more fazed by the mention of Kimblee's name at the moment. He made another note that saying Kimblee's name out loud was something he probably shouldn't do either. It was definitely going to be a long recovery process.

"…Where?"

It was barely a whisper and all Ed could get out, but Roy understood it's meaning. He wanted to know why Al wasn't there.

"He has been spending a lot of time with Hughes, going over the incident in Aryyosut."

Ed looked at him with a skeptical impression, as if to ask why Al wasn't waiting by his bedside like he had been. Roy sighed in slight agitation.

 _How am I going to get him to drop the subject?_

"Listen, Ed. You...you died. I don't know if you even realize that, but your heart stopped beating. I thought I had lost you, kid."

Roy reached out slowly and gently touched his arm, relieved when Ed didn't shy away a second time.

"You've been unconscious for two weeks."

Ed looked at him, wide eyed.

"A lot of people have come to see you. Even your mechanic friend stopped by and fixed your auto-mail."

Well, that explained why he could use his arm again.

"But the doctors didn't know when, or even if you'd wake up. You really had us all scared."

Roy hoped this wasn't too much for Ed to handle right now. He was unsure of how much the boy actually remembered.

"The good news is, you've healed quite a bit. And I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to know you're awake. I promise to have Al contacted right away, okay?"

Ed nodded and put on a small smile for the Colonel. Even after two weeks, he was still feeling pretty fatigued. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep, but he was afraid more nightmares would ensue. He also really wanted to be able to form a sentence instead of a few words. Maybe a drink would help?

"Water…"

He managed to get one word out at least. Roy nodded and left to get him a cup. That's when Ed noticed a small desk was set up in the room where it looked like his superior had been filling out paperwork, as usual. Roy returned a moment later and handed a glass to him. He raised it to his mouth to drink, when he noticed the liquid wasn't clear.

 _Is this…milk?_ "Vermon!"

"Come on now, Ed. You have to drink your milk in order to get taller."

Ed was freaked out just to be holding the cup in his hands. He held it away from him as far as he could towards Roy.

"I said water!" He shouted angrily.

"Thank goodness!" Roy stated dramatically. "I had to make sure you were still the same Ed."

All he received was a glare as he handed Ed the actual cup of water. As he drank, Roy noticed Ed was staring at his desk and let out a nervous laugh.

"Oh, that. Yeah, Lieutenant Hawkeye wouldn't let me stay here without keeping up with my work." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

 _Has he been here this whole time?_

A knock at the door brought Ed out of his thoughts. It was the doctor, who seemed quite relieved.

"You're awake…what a relief! You are one stubborn kid, you know that? I don't know many folks who could come back from everything you went through."

It almost made Ed cringe to think about it. He was trying really hard not to at the moment. The doctor walked over and began to inspect him.

"Now that you're awake, you can tell us how you feel. I want to make sure there weren't any injuries we missed."

He fiddled with some tools on the counter and brought one close to Ed's face, making him cower with fear.

"Stop!" He threw his hand up in defense, as if he were being attacked.

The doctor was taken back at the outburst. "It's just a thermometer, Edward. I need to take your temperature."

Ed just shook his head slowly. "D-Don't touch me!"

Roy walked over to try and console the boy. "He's not going to hurt you, Ed. He's the doctor."

Ed's eyes narrowed at Roy. "I don't need my temperature taken! I need to leave this stupid place!"

Roy couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. There was that fire in Ed's eyes again. He'd almost missed it. Sure, it also meant Ed was going to be a heck of a lot more difficult now, but he'd gladly take a bratty alchemist over a broken one.

"Well, you have to stay here until you're healed." Roy crossed his arms.

"Then at least leave so I can have some privacy!" Ed shouted back, angrily.

Roy couldn't keep a straight face. He let out the biggest laugh. "Oh it sure is good to have you back, shrimp."

He was expecting a full blown tantrum, but all he received was another glare. After all Ed went through, he couldn't expect him to be completely back to normal in such a short amount of time.

The doctor cleared his throat, indicating his presence still in the room. "If you're not going to let me touch you, then at least drink your water. Also, some solid foods wouldn't hurt as well."

He handed the glass to Ed, who reluctantly took it and drank a few sips. After a few seconds, he started to feel uncontrollably tired. Realization hit that they must have put something in his drink. He panicked, trying to fight it.

"N-No! Please don't…make me…sleep…" He closed his eyes gave in to unconsciousness.

The doctor checked Ed's vitals and confirmed his pulse and heart rate were normal.

"He's healed quite well, considering how he looked two weeks ago. I'm thoroughly impressed with his progress."

"Good, because now that Ed's awake, I think it's time for him to go home."

"Sir, he still needs constant supervision. The dorms are no place for someone in his condition."

Roy smiled at the man.

"Don't worry, I know just the place."

* * *

 ** _So were there any plots to kill me if Ed had really died? Did you start to think for a few seconds that he was really gone?_** ** _I know that was a little evil, but don't worry, I could never kill off a main character like that! Not after everything Ed has gone through. Poor guy. I'm no medical expert, so who knows if what Roy did with the machine is actually possible, but I did think it was a really cool idea. That's why I left it open to believe that it was either Roy or God that brought him back. (You choose!)_**

 ** _I did kinda struggle with Kimblee's fate, but I felt like you guys really wanted him to die, so he did. But in my previous version, Roy actually lets him live. (Below is what he said in the original.)_**

 ** _"No, I'm not going to kill you, because that's what you would do. And if you don't bleed out before I get you to a hospital, you're going to have surgery to remove as much of the Philosopher Stone as possible. And if you somehow manage to survive that, you're then going to be chained up, just like you had Ed, and rot in prison until you die."_**

 ** _So that's what I originally wrote. But he's still dead._**

 ** _Chapter 9: Ed struggling with nightmares and SO MUCH FLUFF. (My favorite chapter!)_**


	9. Chapter 9

_How is this the second to last chapter already? I should be sad, but ending one story means I get to start another! (Stay tuned!)_

 _There was quite a bit of this I had to change, based on the fact that Kimblee didn't survive. It made me really angry as I was going through and editing it, caused I liked what I already had. So I decided, thanks to the suggestion by one of my guest reviewers, I'm going to add a bonus chapter at the end based on Kimblee surviving, and how that would have played out as Ed tries to cope._

 _This is stocked full of fluff. Poor Ed struggles with what's happened, and my favorite character (Roy) helps pick up the pieces! I finally got this chapter to a place where I was happier with the revised version more than the original. So. Your welcome. And enjoy!_

 _P.S. This is my longest chapter, yay!_

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: (AKA My Favorite Chapter!)**

The next thing Ed remembered was waking up again. He blinked a few times to clear his vision, noticing the scenery had changed.

 _Where am I?_

He looked around for the familiar face of comfort- also known as Roy Mustang. Strangely enough, the man wasn't there.

 _Maybe he really left like I told him to._

Immediately he regretted that one. Being alone left his mind to wander back to everything that had happened, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. He heard feet shuffling in the distance, sparking hope that someone was there after all.

"Colonel? Is that you?"

"Guess again."

But not that someone.

He froze. _That voice...it couldn't be!_

The footsteps came towards him and the man revealed himself to be none other than Kimblee.

Ed started to panic. "No...you can't be here! This can't be real..."

"Oh it's very real." Kimblee threw one hand over Ed's mouth to keep him from screaming. The boy squirmed under his grasp as he placed his other hand on his chest.

"This time, I'm going to make sure you stay dead!"

 _Not again! Somebody help me!_

There was a loud noise, and his chest felt like it was on fire. He screamed.

* * *

"AHH!" Ed's piercing scream rang throughout the room as Roy jumped up from his chair and ran to his aid.

"Ed! What happened!?"

The boy laid there, eyes wide open and covered in sweat. He didn't respond to the question but gripped the sheets tightly, like he was in some sort of trance.

"Hey, kid. Get a grip." He shook the boy's shoulders gently until Ed squeezed his arm with his auto-mail hand. Poor choice of words on his part. "Oww…this isn't what I meant!"

Ed continued to ignore his words, tightening his grip. "Come on Ed, snap out of it!"

Roy finally realized he must have been having another nightmare. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he gently brushed Ed's bangs back and whispered in his ear.

"It's me, Ed. It's Roy. Not Kimblee or anyone else who would hurt you. It's just me, and I promise you're safe here."

With a quick movement, Ed's hand released Roy's arm and fell against the bed. He blinked a few times, leery of whether or not he could trust the man's words.

"How do I know this isn't just a dream, like all the others?"

"Because I wouldn't lie to you."

Confirming that he was actually awake this time, Ed looked away and mumbled. "You have before."

Roy cringed. Ouch. The words stung more than his arm that Ed had been trying to crush earlier.

His temper flared up just slightly. "That's not fair!"

The loud tone caused Ed to flinch away from him in fear. Instantly he felt bad and calmed down.

"...Sorry."

They both sat in silence for a few moments before Ed finally spoke up.

"I wasn't trying to be reckless..."

It caused the older man to raise an eye brow. "What do you mean?"

"You know, in your office...I knew Al and I couldn't do it on our own. There were multiple lives at stake and I….I just wanted your help…"

Roy wanted to face palm. _That's what he's upset about?_ He should have known. He never did get the chance to apologize for that. Pulling the chair closer to the bed, he sat down.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said. I was just having a bad day and took my frustration out on you. It was completely out of line to speak to you like that. You may not believe it, but I'm actually proud of you. You did the right thing by coming to me. I'm the one who screwed up, okay?"

Guilt started to pour over him again for everything Ed had gone through. His eyes welled up with tears, though he tried his best to hold them back.

"I don't blame you if you hate me. It's my fault all of this happened. I let a man torture you to the point of death. I'm more than just useless in the rain…"

He got up and turned away, unable to face his subordinate any longer. "How could you ever forgive me?"

He started to leave the room, but something caught his sleeve.

"Wait." Ed took a deep breath. "I could never hate you."

Roy turned back around and breathed a sigh of relief as a few tears finally escaped him.

"I'm just so sorry I didn't protect you…"

Ed frowned. "I'll forgive you if you promise me one thing."

Roy smiled. "Anything."

"Stop with all the crying and apologizing. It's weird." He crossed his arms, pretending to be annoyed.

Roy couldn't help but laugh. "I think I can manage that."

Silence fell upon them once more, as Roy subconsciously rubbed his hurt arm.

"…Sorry about your arm." Ed looked away, embarrassed that he had hurt the man.

His superior merely shot him a smirky glare. "I thought we were done with apolog—"

"Shut up."

He smiled to himself. Maybe Ed would be fine after all. If anyone could pull through this, that kid would. There was still something he needed to know, though. Something he didn't want to ask, but wouldn't be able to rest until he did. Now seemed like as good a time as any.

"Ed, there's something I need to ask you, and you're not going to like it."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Be honest with me. Did Kim—" he paused for a moment, afraid the name its self would ensue a panic attack. Ed knew who he was talking about. "Did he rape you?"

Ed stiffened for a moment, recalling what Kimblee had done to him. It made Roy feel awful, bringing up a painful memory, but talking about it was the only way they could both get past this.

"Please…I-I don't want to talk about it." Ed looked away, ashamed and embarrassed.

Roy began to fear the worst. "Ed. Look at me." The boy slightly lifted his head to meet the man's gaze. His eyes evident of everything he had gone through.

"I know this is hard for you, but I just need to hear you say it. Please."

"...No...I don't know!" Ed buried his face in his hands.

Roy was infuriated to think that Kimblee had hurt his subordinate in this way, but he tried to stay calm so he could get answers from the clearly distraught boy. He sat down next to him on the bed.

"You can tell me, whatever it is. I promise it will stay just between us."

The boy took a shuddering, deep breath. "The first time...he just acted like he was going to. He said if nothing else broke me then he'd do it for real. I guess the second time he...he never got that far, but still...I had never been more terrified in my entire life! I thought I could handle anything, but that…"

He choked back a sob, making Roy want nothing more than to reach out and pull him close. To let him know that everything was okay now. He didn't, fearing that physical contact wouldn't be the best approach, given the subject. He was happy and relieved enough to hear that at least his subordinate's purity had been untarnished. But just the thought of it, as he imagined the fear on Ed's face when Kimblee taunted him... He cursed himself for giving the man a quick death. He should have made him suffer every bit of the torture Ed had gone through, and so much more.

His hands curled into tight fists as he quickly stood up. "That's it! I'm gonna burn his corpse into a pile of ash!"

He quickly stood up to walk away, but Ed grabbed his arm once again to stop him.

"Please don't go!"

"Why shouldn't I?" Roy spat through gritted teeth.

"Cause I...I don't want to be alone!" Ed's face reddened a little. He didn't want to admit it, but there was a presence about his superior that made him feel safe. A feeling he didn't want to be without right now.

The man just stood there for a moment, trying to control his breathing. Ed squeezed harder.

"Please...I can't handle any more nightmares!"

Roy closed his eyes and sighed. That was all he needed to hear. He finally had Ed safe and sound, and he planned to keep it that way.

"Okay." He sat back down close to Ed. "I'll stay as long as you want. And even then I won't leave."

The boy smiled. He was clearly exhausted, trying to suppress a yawn as his eyes drooped wearily.

Roy smiled softly. "Maybe you should try and get some-"

"No."

"Ed."

"I'm not tired!"

"Yes, you are. I know you haven't been getting any sleep since you woke back up."

"Since I woke up? Try since I was captured, over two weeks ago." Ed spat. "You wanna know what I was doing during the time you said I was unconscious? I was having nightmare after nightmare, filled with agonizing pain! I thought I had only dreamed about you finding me, and that I was actually still with Kimblee. In my nightmares, he _did_ rape me. Over and over...For _two weeks!_ I had no idea that none of it was real until I woke up in the hospital…"

"Ed, I..." This time it was Roy trying to choke back a sob, hearing how Kimblee was still torturing the poor boy, even in death.

"...I can't imagine what that must have been like." He placed his hand on Ed's shoulder so the boy would look at him. "...but it is over, and Kimblee is never going to hurt you again."

The once spirited young alchemist just brushed Roy's hand away as he tried to hide the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

"How can it be over when every time I close my eyes, I see his face...I see that stupid grin smiling at me, telling me I'm going to die!"

"Ed..." Roy didn't know what to say. What could he say? What could he do?

"All I remember is pain. I remember him torturing me over and over. I even remember when I was about to die. It was so unbelievably hard to breathe that I didn't even care to live anymore. And now...now I can't sleep, because when I do, it's not over. I'm still trapped and he can still hurt me and Roy…I just can't!"

He reached for the man as he began to sob. "I-I can't go through that again!"

Gripping Roy's shirt, Ed buried his face in the man's chest and sobbed quietly. Without hesitation, Roy wrapped his arms around the boy tightly, stroking the back of his head gently.

"I know, and I promise you won't have to."

There weren't any words he could speak that would make Ed forget, but at least he could be there for him right now. He would stay and hold him as long as Ed needed. Admittedly, he needed this too. To feel Ed close, proving that he wasn't just dreaming all of this either.

Once Ed's crying started to fade, he could feel the boy falling asleep on him.

"Go to sleep, Ed. I'm right here. If Kimlbee shows his ugly face, I'll burn him until there's nothing left. He won't hurt you any more."

Ed whimpered, keeping his face buried. "D-Do you promise?"

"Yes. Now stop crying. It's kind of weird." Roy teased.

All he heard in response was a muffled, "I hate you so much…"

He chuckled. "I know. Now get some rest."

It only took a few minutes before he heard the steady breathing from Ed, indicating that he had finally gone to sleep.

* * *

Roy sat in silence, listening to the steady breathing of a certain young alchemist. He would have never imagined it to be such a comforting sound, until a couple weeks ago when he had witnessed hearing the complete silence from his subordinate altogether. He had also repositioned Ed so that his head now rested in his lap, however Roy was beginning to question the placement now that his lower half was starting to go numb. He considered moving the boy onto the bed completely, but Ed would just cling to him in his sleep every time the man tried to pull him away. Eventually he gave up, deciding that he would gladly be uncomfortable if it meant the kid got a good night's sleep. He was starting to nod off himself, when the young alchemist began to stir, gripping the material of Roy's pants tightly. He figured Ed was starting to have a nightmare, so he began to run his fingers through long golden hair, whispering softly.

"It's okay, Ed. Remember, you're safe here. I've got you now. He can't hurt you anymore."

After a few moments, Ed relaxed again and released his tight grip on the man's pants. Roy couldn't help but smile at how peaceful the boy looked. He soaked in the moment, knowing Ed was going to throw a fit about sleeping on his lap when he woke up. He was brought out of his thoughts by a light tapping at the doorway. Lieutenant Hawkeye stood there with an amused look on her face.

"I see he's finally resting." She smiled.

Roy rubbed the back of his neck in discomfort. I'm glad, because I'm pretty sure I can't feel my entire lower half."

"I can help you move him if you want."

"No." He smiled at the boy. "He's been through enough. If sitting here will help him sleep better, I'll stay until he wakes up."

"Very well. I suppose we can hold off on your paperwork for now."

"You're too kind, Lieutenant." Roy stated sarcastically.

"I also have an update for you, sir."

"About Kimblee?" He glanced down at Ed for a moment to make sure the boy was still asleep.

"No. It's about Alphonse."

"Right..." He lowered his voice so that Ed wouldn't be roused. "What is it?"

"All that we can do has been done. Ed may see him now, if he wants. As for whether or not he's ready, I'll leave that up to you."

"I honestly don't know...What do you think?"

"He may not be able to process it just yet."

He looked at Ed once more, guilty that they hadn't told him about Al yet.

"Al is his little brother. He deserves to know."

"Yes sir." She saluted.

Roy shifted uncomfortably, trying not to wake the boy. He pondered how Ed was going to take the news.

 _I hope you're ready for this, kid_.

After a few moments, he looked back up, noticing that Hawkeye was still standing there.

"Something on your mind, lieutenant."

"Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Riza." He loved saying her name, especially when they were alone and he could get away with it. "You know you don't have to ask."

"It's just that, aren't you a little worried about going against the Fuhrer's orders? Have you thought about what he's going to do to us?"

"Look, as far as anyone's concerned, I'm the only one who disobeyed him. You and the others were not involved. Whatever punishment is waiting for me, it's mine and mine alone."

"But Roy-"

"No. You are more than just my subordinate and comrade. I don't have to tell you what you mean to me. Havoc and the others, they are just as important to me as well. The last thing I'm going to do is let all of you suffer because of my mistake to protect Ed in the first place."

"And what if you get kicked out? You know that I only joined the military to watch your back and help you reach your goal to become Fuhrer. I have no reason to stay if you're no longer in it."

"Then quit if you'd like. But I'm not going to have you dishonorably discharged, should that be my fate."

"Stubborn man...maybe I should." She smiled. "It would make things a lot easier for us."

Colonel Roy mustang, in all his confident nature, blushed at the statement. A reaction that could only be caused by the woman he loved. It was true, that if one of them were not involved in the military, they could finally be together; but Roy had his crazy ambitions, and Riza had her unwavering duties to protect them.

A genuine smile set across her features. Something he was not graced with very often. No more words needed to be exchanged as she then saluted and took her leave downstairs.

* * *

Ed awoke to birds chirping outside, indicating it was morning. Keeping his eyes shut, he contently listened to their songs without a care in the world. He couldn't even remember the last time he felt this refreshed. This had been the best sleep he had gotten in a while, even before Kimblee. Curling in, he snuggled closer to whatever he was lying on that was so darn comfy. It smelled good too, making him want to just lie here for hours.

"You awake kiddo?"

Ed's eyes shot open. Why was the Colonel's voice so close to his face? He looked over to see he was lying on something blue.

 _A military_ _uniform? Why would I be sleeping on—_ _oh no_ _…_

Ed jumped up as quickly as he could upon realizing he was lying in Roy's lap. He scooted away and pointed his finger at him, shouting.

"Get out of my bed, you perv!"

Roy sighed, knowing this was coming. "First of all, this is my bed. Second of all, you're the one who threw yourself on top of me first."

Ed's face tuned completely red. "I'm at your house!?"

"You've been here since yesterday. I was wondering why you didn't say anything the first time you woke up."

"I was kind of preoccupied if you remember correctly! You know, nightmares and all!"

"I just thought you would appreciate getting out of the hospital. It wasn't easy you know. It took a lot of assuring them that I would take care of you. You're welcome."

Ed scowled, not wanting to admit that Roy was right. It's true, he hated the hospital, but he definitely wasn't expecting to wake up in his commanding officer's bed.

"Did you have any more nightmares?" Roy questioned, once Ed had relaxed a little. The boy pondered the question a moment.

"Come to think of it, I didn't. I mean at one point I think I started to...I remember it was really dark and I was scared, thinking Kimblee was going to jump out at me any moment...but then...then something grabbed my hand and told me—"

"It was you!" He huffed in embarrassment. "You did something to me in my sleep, didn't you?"

Roy just rolled his eyes in amusement. "I merely told you that you were safe and had nothing to worry about."

Ed crossed his arms and shouted. "Stay out of my dreams, creep!"

"Well apparently whatever I did worked, right? Seeing as you're back to your usual self, you must have gotten plenty of rest." Roy gloated.

"Yeah whatever…"

"Just admit it, you love me. Actually, you told me so yourself."

"What! I would never-" _Oh crap, I did say it! Darn you, Roy, for making me sentimental!_

Unable to hide his embarrassment, he turned away from the Colonel and gazed out the window.

"...You said it first." He tried to sound annoyed, but couldn't hide the smile that started to form.

Roy smiled at the boy, even though Ed was still turned away from him. "You're right, I did. Because I do love you Ed. Like a son."

"Don't go getting emotional on me again. You promised, remember?"

Roy threw his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. I just wanted to say it once, you know...because you're alive, and I can."

Ed continued to face the window but closed his eyes and smiled. He felt all warm and fuzzy inside. It was a strange feeling that he gladly welcomed. There was just one thing that was missing. More like someone. He made the slow turn to face the Colonel once more. Roy wondered what was making the boy look like he was going to break down any moment.

"Al's gone, isn't he?"

"Uhh what—"

"You've been lying to me this whole time. He's not in Aryyosut or with Major Hughes. He's dead. You're just not telling me because you don't think I can handle it."

"Ed, that's….that's not it, I promise."

"Stop lying to me already!"

Ed threw his feet over the bed to stand up, but a huge wave a nausea hit him. He would have toppled to the floor if Roy hadn't of caught him. He closed his eyes and placed his hand over his forehead, trying hard not to throw up.

"Look at you." Roy said gently as he helped him back onto the bed. "This is why I was waiting to tell you. You still need time to get over everything you went through."

Ed grabbed Roy's arm that was still resting on his shoulder, careful to not squeeze too hard this time.

"Please…I'm begging you." The tears started to come back. "I need to see him." He looked up at Roy with pleading, golden eyes, and the Colonel knew Ed was ready to know the truth.

"I'll have him brought here, okay?"

Ed nodded. Roy called out to Riza, who was still waiting downstairs. She came running in the room with a salute to her Superior.

"Sir!"

"He's ready, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir." She left as quickly as she had come, making Ed a little nervous.

Roy looked his subordinate over, remarking how long his hair was as it hung all over his face. He let out a laugh.

"You're a mess, kid." He sat down beside the boy. "Here, let me braid your hair, so it's' not in the way."

"I can braid my own hair! And you don't have to wait on me hand and foot. I'm not an invalid."

"You're right, you can. You can braid your hair and anything else you set your mind to, Ed. I don't want to braid your hair because you can't. I want to do it because I can. Because you could be dead right now, and instead of worrying about something like your hair, I'd be planning your funeral."

Instantly Ed felt bad. He hadn't thought about the effect it must have had on Roy, watching him die. It probably gave the man his own set of nightmares. He tried to cheer him up.

"I know you're just trying to help, and I promise not to die again any time soon, so you don't have to keep worrying, okay?"

Roy laughed. "Oh kid, the day I stop worrying about you will be the day I die."

Ed tried to hide the smile that came from Roy's warm words.

Is this what it felt like to have a father?

* * *

 _So yeah, a lot of hurt Ed, but I think Roy can get him through it. I'm also pretty sure (as I am the one writing it) that their relationship will never be the same after this, but I tried to make them in character as possible. I'd actually love to know what you thought of their banter in this chapter, given everything Ed has gone through. I couldn't help but add a little Royai fluff as well :) I wrote the part about Roy calling Riza by her first name when their alone based on how Envy tries to trick Riza with that in brotherhood, except apparently it wasn't true. Sad times._

 _I'm so excited for the last chapter! Yeah I made you wait until the very end to find out what happened to Alphonse, but hopefully it was worth it! Feel free to tell me what you think happened to him in the meantime! :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_It's the end!_

 _(Or is it?)_

 _Thank you for your continued support of this fic! It's been so much fun (and time consuming) to write!_

 _Stay tuned as I will be posting another chapter shortly afterwards with some important announcements :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Ten:**

Roy sat behind Ed, braiding his golden locks. For a young boy, he certainly had some beautiful hair. He relished the fact that it was so clean, unlike a couple weeks ago when it was matted and stained with blood. Thank goodness all that was behind them now, because he could really get use to this. Having Ed here gave him this sense of purpose. It gave him someone to cook for, a reason to keep things clean, and just someone to talk to. His house was way too big for one person anyway. Maybe he could persuade Ed to stay forever? Unlikely as that was, it was still a nice thought.

"Are you gonna get that?" Ed peered behind his shoulder at the daydreaming Colonel.

Roy's hands paused as he realized his phone was ringing downstairs. He contemplated it for a second, but shook his head instead. "I'm almost done."

"I can finish the braid if you need to answer it."

"It's probably not important."

It wasn't just because his fingers were tangled in Ed's hair that he didn't get the phone. He honestly didn't want to know who was on the other line.

"Okay, whatever you say."

Ed turned his gaze forward again and continued to sit still, which impressed Roy enough to momentarily forget about the sinking feeling in his gut. That is, until Hawkeye entered the room with the same stoic expression she always bore. Ed couldn't tell the difference, but Roy knew exactly what that face meant.

"Colonel, there's a call for you."

"Yes, I heard. Can't you just tell them that I'm busy?"

"I cant, sir. It's the Fuhrer."

Roy closed his eyes for a second and gulped. He knew Bradley would find out about him disobeying his orders soon enough. He quickly finished the braid and stood up.

"Don't let him out of your sight, Lieutenant." He commanded as he walked out of the room.

"I'm not two you know!" Ed yelled out after him. When he didn't received a snarky comeback, he turned to Riza. "What was that all about?"

"Just some military business the colonel needs to take care of."

"Then why did he seem reluctant to answer the phone himself?" He crossed his arms with a skeptical impression.

"You know how he his. He would just rather not leave you alone right now."

"Don't do that."

"Do what, Edward?"

"Keep me in the dark because you think you're protecting me. I've had enough surprises lately."

Riza finally sighed and sat down on the bed. "Fuhrer Bradley gave Roy specific orders to not go after you and Kimblee. He was very adamant that we focus our attention to the problems in Ayyrosut."

"He went after me anyway, didn't he?"

"When Hughes figured out there was a connection between Kimblee and Ayyrosut, Roy knew he had to find you before it was too late. So he commanded us to stay behind while he snuck off to search for you."

Ed frowned, feeling guilty for his superior's predicament. "What's going to happen to him?"

"He disobeyed a direct order from the King. He could be court martialed, physically punished, or thrown out of the military altogether."

"This is my fault…" He looked down, but Riza touched his shoulder gently.

"I assure you he doesn't regret his decision to go after you. He's just nervous is all. The military means a lot to him, but you mean a lot more. I'm confident he would do it all over again to save you."

"Well he shouldn't have done that! Idiot." Ed didn't know why it made him so upset. Nobody risks something that important on a kid, especially not him.

They both sat in silence until Roy returned with that usual stoic expression, giving away nothing.

"Well?" Ed crossed his arms.

"Just the usual military business." He stated cooly. "I'm afraid the specifics are above your pay grade."

"Cut the crap." Ed snapped. "Hawkeye already told me."

Roy shot a quick glance of disapproval at his lieutenant, before sitting back down on the bed next to the blond.

"My actions are being reviewed and I will be notified when the council has agreed on a fitting punishment."

"But that's—"

"Please Ed, just let this go." He spoke with such sadness that the boy closed his mouth and listened for once.

The awkward silence that followed was almost unbearable as the two sat there. Neither of them even noticed the lieutenant had stepped out.

"So…" Roy finally started, but the younger alchemist didn't let him finished.

"This is so stupid!" He turned to face his superior with fiery golden eyes. "First you hide the fact that you're in trouble with the military because of me, and nobody wants to tell me where my brother is!"

"Ed, we're not trying to leave you out."

"Then tell me! Is Al okay or not?"

"Just wait a little longer and you can see for yourself."

Ed was pretty fed up with everyone keeping stuff from him. Infuriated, He grabbed Roy by the front of his shirt. "Ive waited long enough! Just tell me if he's—"

"Brother."

Ed's eyes snapped in the direction of the voice. He slowly released Roy's shirt at the sight before him. He had been expecting to see a giant suit of armor, but instead it was a person standing there.

 _Wait, a person?_

He was a young boy who looked around his age. His hair was almost the same color as Ed's, with the same golden eyes. The face was a little thin, matching the small frame that stood before him, but over all he looked physically intact.

"A-Alphonse?" He was much older and taller than that night, when Ed last saw him, but it was definitely him. He swallowed hard, rubbing his eyes. "I swear, if this is just another nightmare…"

"It's not, brother. I'm here."

He heard it again. That voice. The one that could only belong to his little brother. It was real. He was really here. How was this possible? He was almost shaking now.

"B-But how did you…I was supposed to—" Al cut him of by wrapping his arms around his older brother in an embrace.

"You don't have to worry about me anymore, brother. I'm back, and everything's okay now."

Ed just sat there, dumbfounded. He couldn't even return the hug. So many thoughts were going through his mind.

 _I wasn't able to get his body back after all. He never even needed me…_

Confused, he pushed Al away. "I've been searching for a way to get your body back for three years! Three years I've put everything into finding the stone, just to learn it takes human sacrifices to use! Three years of getting our hopes up, just to be let down every time. Yet here you are, back to normal, and I did nothing, absolutely _nothing_ to help…"

He buried his face with his hands, feeling completely helpless. Al sat beside him, but kept his distance.

"Ed. That's not true and you know it. It's only because of you that I still had my soul at all. You encouraged me to keep going when I thought all hope was lost. You promised me that I would have my body again, and you were right. In the end, I was able to use everything _you_ taught me. I would have never been able to do all of that without you."

"But it's my fault you lost your body in the first place…"

"No! That was a decision we made together. It was _our_ mistake. And only half of it has been fixed."

"What do you mean?" He looked up at his younger brother's face.

"You gave up your freedom and joined the military for me. You've spent so much of your time focussed on helping me without concern to your own body. Auto-mail isn't easy on anyone, especially someone who is still growing. Now you can finally worry about yourself. Now it's my turn to help you. I'm gonna get your arm and leg back."

"Al…you don't have to—"

"Ed!" The sudden outburst from his little brother made the boy turn to look at him. "Do you realize what you put me through? What you put all of us through?" He gestured to himself and then Mustang. "I-I was so scared for you…I thought I might never see you again! My brother. My hero…"

Al began to cry, and Ed couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with compassion for him. This time he reached for his brother and held on tightly to his frail little body. It was the first time he had been able to in three years. Feeling his younger brother's warm flesh instead of cold metal instantly took away his thoughts of failure. In this moment, he didn't care how it had happened. He was just happy to see his brother's smiling face. The only family he had left. A few tears of his own escaped as his brother happily returned the hug.

"I always knew you would figure it out. I'm sorry I got upset." He squeezed just a little tighter. "I'm so happy your back, Alphonse. I've missed you."

As he watched the beautiful reunion, Roy decided this was a moment he would never forget- and not in a bad way. To see the two brothers together, and the huge smile on Ed's face was priceless. Maybe all he had needed was his brother after all. As the two sat there, catching up on all that had happened, Ed was finally able to tell his side without getting choked up. It seemed he wasn't beyond repair as they had thought. Ed was particularly interested in hearing about Al's transmutation to get his body back. He listened intently to every word he spoke, soaking in the events like a child hearing a bedtime story. His face showed evidence that he was truly proud of the alchemist his little brother had become.

"…And then I told him he had to bring me back, because I still needed to help you get your body back."

"That was a pretty reckless move there, Al. If I didn't know any better, I'd say we were related." He playfully nudged his brother.

"Well I didn't have a choice, really. I couldn't just sit there and become their puppet. I asked myself, what would Ed do? And I decided you would do something completely crazy. So that's what I did, and somehow it actually worked!"

"Heh, maybe you should be more like me from now on." Ed gloated.

"I'm not that stupid." Al teased.

"Hey!"

"Anyway, I thought for sure Truth was going to take those Alchemists lives, but in the end he settled for the just the Philosopher stone. I don't know, brother. It doesn't sound like equivalent exchange to me."

"Who knows, maybe there's a God after all." Ed shot a glance at Roy, who merely smirked in response.

"Yeah, maybe." Alphonse continued. "All I remember was waking up in a hospital. Major Hughes was the one who filled me in on the rest."

This time Roy chimed in. "You can thank Hughes for all of it, really. He's the one who figured out Kimblee's plan and went to Aryyosut to find you. Also, he said it was because of Alphonse here that they were able to stop the other terrorists. Without their stones, Major Armstrong and the others were able to take them down. I heard they even rescued those kids you were so worried about, Ed."

The boy smiled. "I guess everything worked out, didn't it? Sorry I never made it back to help you, Al."

"Don't you dare apologize. I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you. I'm the one who should be sorry for not protecting you."

Ed rolled his eyes. "You're not gong to quit with that, are you?"

"Nope. Not until you have your original body back, too."

"Well I guess I can deal with it, just as long as your safe. I love you, Al."

"Love you too, brother."

* * *

Morning came around again, and everything was finally starting to feel right. Different for sure, with Al being back to normal and Ed sleeping at his commanding officer's house, but still right. Perfect almost.

At least that's how Roy saw it.

He smiled as he walked into the room to check on his subordinate. "How are you feeling today?"

"Fine, I guess." Ed noticed the breakfast Roy was carrying. "I can get out of bed to eat breakfast you know."

"I do know. I just thought it might be easier."

"I don't need easy. I need normal. All I want is for everything to go back to normal, so I can get out of here and get back to my research."

He suddenly remembered the sleeping boy lying next to him. "Oh…"

He still wasn't used to the fact that his brother was actually back. After talking most of the night, the young boy practically passed out next to him, and Ed didn't have the heart to make him leave. Having him there was also a constant reminder that this wasn't just another bad dream.

Unfortunately for Roy, hearing Ed's words were a reminder that the kid would never want to be around him that much. Though he didn't expect the boy would be dying to get away from him that soon.

"Do you really want to try and make the walk downstairs? Push yourself like you always do before your body's ready? I'm just trying to help you. Sorry if you would have rather me let you stay at the hospital. You're not a prisoner here. You can leave if you want." He didn't mean for it to sound so snippy, but he couldn't deny that his feelings were a little hurt.

"Roy, that's...not what I meant. I just, don't like feeling useless..."

Realizing what Ed was trying to convey, Roy set the tray down and pulled up a chair. "This is about Al isn't it?"

"Is this why you didn't think I was ready?"

"Yes. I know you better than you think."

"What's that mean?"

"Come on, what was your first reaction when you saw him."

"I don't know. I was confused I guess."

"You immediately felt like a failure that he had gotten his body back without you. You felt like you hadn't gave enough."

"It's just that...well I'm the one who screwed up and I wanted to be the one to fix it."

"But that's not what happened. You were simply two young boys without a mother and father to guide you in life. And maybe it was wrong. But you did the only thing your brilliant mind could think of. And to be honest, it was an incredible display of just how genius you really are."

"I feel like if I was as smart as you say, I wouldn't have tried it in the first place."

"You live and you learn. You make mistakes. Don't forget that your brother feels just as guilty about your physical condition as you did his."

"I know, but my situation was different."

"Not to him. Maybe you couldn't see the sadness in his face when he was just a suit of armor, but it was there."

When Ed didn't say anything, Roy continued. "You had enough sanity as a 9 year old boy, having just witnessed his brothers body ripped away, to bring his soul back, so he at least wouldn't be lost forever. Somehow, even in that moment, you knew if you could just get a piece of him back, you'd figure out a way to make the rest of him whole. Who cares which one of you activated the circle. It was all of your hard work and determination that got his body back."

Ed looked away, his face a little red. "You're being unusually nice."

"So?"

"So I mean, can I count on this from now on, or are you just going to go back to being a jerk when I'm all better?"

"Do you want me to go back to being a jerk? I've been told I'm pretty good at it." He gave Ed a teasing look.

"Seeing as how that got me here, no thanks." He grinned back.

 _Two can play._

"Well, why don't you tell me what exactly it is that you want." Roy got up from his chair and sat next to the boy.

Ed sat there for a moment, trying to sort out the many thoughts running through his mind.

"I want to know why you did it."

"Did what?"

"Risked your career for me. Why?"

Roy then smiled, grabbing Ed's arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Because you were worth it."

The words seemed to confused the boy as he tried to process what he had just heard.

"Do you know how many times I've screwed up? That makes me worth nothing. I don't deserve rescuing."

"No." The man shook his head. "I'm the one who doesn't deserve rescuing, yet you saved me the moment I met you. I realized I could be more than just a killer. That I could help save lives instead of just taking them. When you told me you'd stop at nothing to get your brother's body back, I knew I'd stop at nothing to help you achieve just that."

"You were willing to do all of that…for me?"

"I'd be willing to give up my life for you, Ed."

The boy gasped, wide eyed at the man's proclamation. But nobody should love him that much, right? He looked away.

"That's something only a father would say…."

"Father or not, I mean every word. And I would never, ever abandon you."

Ed looked back at Roy, surprised once more, as tears filled his eyes. He wiped them away quickly and smiled.

"Thank you. For everything. But you know your still a jerk, right?"

Roy chuckled. "It's too bad you feel that way. I was going to ask if you wanted to just stay here. You know, indefinitely."

"W-What?" _Did he just ask me to move in with him?_

"Well, since Al is back to normal now, I thought you might want to settle down for a while. I know you don't have a home to go back to, so why not just stay here? I have plenty of space for you and your brother, if you want."

Ed really didn't know what to say. That was the last thing he ever expected from Roy. A few weeks ago he would have busted out laughing and told the man no way in hell. But now...now he liked how safe he felt around him, and how Roy had sat with him all night just so he could sleep without having nightmares. He liked how thoughtful his superior had been when it came to telling him about his little brother.

 _When did he get so good at being a dad?_

Strange as it was to admit, he needed a father figure like him.

"Ed?" He was starting to feel uncomfortable at the boy's shocked silence. "It's fine if you don't want to. I wasn't trying to weird you out or anything."

Coming out of his thoughts, Ed laughed a little. "You just keep surprising me is all. "Besides, I think we're way past weird."

Roy laughed too at how right the boy was. "I guess I can't argue with that. So, what do you say?"

"I say…" Ed smiled as he wiped a couple tears from his eyes. "I guess you're not that much of a jerk after all."

* * *

 _********** **One month later** **********_

Roy sat contently at his desk in his office, filling out the usual paperwork.

 _Not gonna complain, not gonna complain._

He had promised he wouldn't, and he was determined to stick with it. Ed was alive and safe, and Al had his body back. He would much rather be bored with paperwork than go back a month when he was frantically searching for his subordinate and fighting off a psychopathic killer. Ah yes, things were actually pretty great right now. Ed had agreed to move in with him- shockingly enough- and was recovering quite well. Al spent a lot of time traveling, trying to figure out another way to get Ed's body back to normal. The two stayed in close contact though, and met up rather frequently. Ed's injuries had also healed, so he had been spending a lot of time lately building his strength back up. Yes, things were good indeed. He let out a content sigh as he laid his pen down.

 _A little nap would be nice_ _…_

He propped his face up with his hand and began to drift off when the door barged open.

"Hey there Colonel pops! Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric. Ready for duty!" He cheesed at the Colonel, who just shot him a weird look.

"You're in a strangely good mood today."

"Well, yeah. I mean, when were you going to tell me?" Ed held up a newspaper in Roy's face, headlining that the Flame Alchemist had stopped the terrorists in Ayyrosut, saved the lives of his own men and well as the hostages, and taken down the leader of the whole operation.

"I just got the news myself, actually."

Ed tapped his foot impatiently. "Sooo, does this mean you're not being kicked out?"

"That's what it means." Roy stated matter of factly.

"Then why don't you seem happy about it? Don't you realize what this means?"

"It means whoever wrote that is a liar, because you already know that's not what happened."

Roy stood up from his desk and walked over to the window, recalling his conversation with the Fuhrer that morning.

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

 _"You mean I'm not being punished for what I did?"_

 _"On the contrary, Colonel, I'm giving you all the credit for stopping Kimblee and his men. Congratulations."_

 _"But why, sir?"_

 _"By disobeying my orders, you stopped a very dangerous plan. Those men were trying to create homonculi using the children they had kidnapped. If they had succeeded in perfecting the conditions that made Kimblee the way he was, the world could be plunged into chaos."_

 _"But I never even went to Ayyrosut."_

 _"Regardless, you killed a very dangerous man that was supposed to have already been dead. In order to make things less confusing for the public, I decided to name you as the hero for taking care of the whole situation. That's all the people want to know anyway. You just keep the Philosopher Stone part of it between me and you, and I'll let you keep your job. How does that sound?"_

.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

"...It sounds like they're trying to hide something, if you ask me." Roy turned to face Ed after filling him in on Bradley's deal.

"Well, what did you say?"

"Of course I agreed, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let it go. I need to find out if there are others like Kimblee, and why they're going to such great lengths to create them."

Ed tried to put on a brave face, but the last thing he wanted to do was re-live that nightmare.

"Can we just focus on right now? Be happy you still have your job. Who cares what the paper says? Everyone knows half of what they write is just gossip anyway."

Roy smiled. "You're right…sorry for bringing him up."

"It's okay." Ed waved him off. "Besides, old pops like you tend to forget things easily, so I forgive you." He gave Roy the biggest grin, but his superior was rather unamused.

"I'm not even old enough to be your biological father! And stop calling me pops! It's an old man name!"

"Well, what else am I supposed to call you?"

"I don't know, Roy, Colonel, Sir, _Dad_."

"Booooring! I like pops better. It's really fitting for your age."

The man growled. "Just let me put my gloves on and then we'll see what's boring to call me."

"Hey, no need to take drastic measures now!" Ed threw his hands up in surrender and smiled.

He sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Did you need something? You're interrupting my nap."

"You said after a month you'd let me back out on the field. Well, it's been a month and I'm ready for action!"

"Is that what I said?"

"Of course! Hey, you weren't lying to me again, were you?"

"What? No, of course not." Roy laughed nervously. "Things have just been really slow, that's all."

"Come on, there has to be something! I haven't beat up anybody in weeks!"

He face palmed. "Thats what i'm afraid of…"

"You can't keep me cooped up forever." The young alchemist crossed his arms in a pouting fashion. "You promised."

"Fine. I'll see what I can find. Just promise me you wont be reckless. And no getting hurt this time. Also don't push yourself too hard if you're not ready. Oh and remember to—"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Stop telling me what to do already."

"Well I am your commanding officer, Ed. It's my job."

The boy rolled his eyes in response.

"There's also the fact that you live under my roof, which kinda makes me like your dad now, too." He smirked. "So I guess you have to listen to me."

"No." Ed locked eyes with his superior. "You're nothing like my father."

Roy was a little taken back at first, unsure of how to respond.

That is, until Ed completely took him by surprise, wrapping his arms around the man he knew he could count on for anything.

"You're so much better."

And it was then that Roy knew.

The fullmetal Alchemist would never be the same.

He would be his son.

~*THE END!*~

* * *

 _Just Kidding! This is only the beginning, my friends._

 _Just a few notes as we come to a close:_

 _Yeah, Al is back and better than ever! I know this was different, but I wanted to do something more original. Also, Al is boss too. Just wanted to make you sweat a little first ;)_

 _Another reason Al got his body back was so Ed could settle down and enjoy life with his 'dad.' Now that their relationship is in a good place, a lot more is going to be at stake, which will make for a juicy sequel! That's right peoples, this story is far from over._ _It's still going to be full of angst, hurt, comfort, and all that good stuff; but now I'll get to write their characters more as father and son. Yay!_

 _And just what is King Bradley trying to hide? Well, if you're reading this than you probably already know that he is a nasty piece of work himself. Definitely more of that to come in the sequel!_

* * *

Don't forget to read the epilogue of sorts (I don't really know if that's the correct term to use) that will serve as my acknowledgments and thank you's for this story, as well as an outline of whats to come!


	11. Chapter 11

_*This is the official last chapter (not counting the bonus one), but it not contain any of the actual story.*_

* * *

I just want to start off by saying thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews and support for this story. It wasn't just the fact that you reviewed, but your kind words that inspired me to write and re-write and push myself to make this story the best it could be. When I started writing this, I wondered if anyone would read it at all, so to hear from some of you how much you loved this, it really means a lot. This is the first completed story I've ever posted, and you guys made it an awesome experience. I know there are much better written stories than this one out there, so thank you :)

And to my guests reviewer, Lily, thank you for loving and supporting this story! Your reviews made me so happy! I'll definitely work on the bonus chapter. Also, you get your wish, cause there is still so much more in store for this series!

* * *

 _***As stated already, this fic is dedicated to my father, who was a lot like Roy in many ways. Who was a hard working man. Who owned a company with a great team that often felt like my second family. Who worked late into the night because it was summer and a pregnant lady had no air-conditioning. Who followed me to school the first time I ever drove by myself. Who waited outside my job whenever he could because I locked up at night and was the last one there. Who was my sanity when life was falling apart. Who was a very busy man with a lot of responsibilities, but always had time for his kids._

 _My hero._

 _I love you and I know we'll see each other again someday!_

* * *

And finally, the part you guys care about!

Here are my tentative future plans for this series: (I say tentative because, well you know how that goes.) I promise to not start a new story unless it is basically written because, once again, you know how that usually ends.

Coming very soon will be a one-shot sequel, centered around Father's Day. It's going to be set about a year after this stories' events, and provide some insight as to what's been going on in the life of Edward Elric lately. It will be ingeniously titled "Father's Day," and, you guessed it, will be posted on said holiday.

My next, bigger project will be a multi-chapter sequel, exploring how far Ed will go to uncover the truth about his missing superior (aka Colonel Pops). I doubt you will see this one for a while, as I will not start posting until I have a rough draft at least. (Though much of it has been written, due to random inspirational moments when I was supposed to be working on this story.)

Lastly, I want to end this series with another one-shot, where Ed is all grown up and ready to tackled life's final challenge: marriage. I'm determined to make this one as light-hearted as possible. You guys deserve it. (Again, a lot of it is already written, cause I get the urge to be romantically funny sometimes, and this story is my outlet.)

There are two other one-shots not related to this series that you will probably see soon:

One is about Ed dying and Roy having to choose whether or not he will perform human transmutation to save him. (This one is pretty much done, cause when inspiration hits...)

The other is more typical Roy/Ed, yelling at each other and what not, until Ed takes it too far and really hurt's Roy's feelings. (Cause I find it's always Roy who says mean things, so I want Ed to be the jerk this time.) Then Ed gets kidnapped of course, cause what better way to force Roy to forgive Ed than by putting his life is danger?

* * *

There are other ideas swimming around my brain, but thats all I'm working on for now. Hope you continue to enjoy these parental!Roy/Ed fics as much as I enjoy writing them!


	12. Chapter 12

_Hello, once again. This should be my last ever update for this story! Thanks for bugging me about it. I was so into my new stuff that it was kinda hard coming back to this. I just like that it's complete and people can enjoy it for what it is :)_

 _Anyway, I don't think this chapter is THAT big of a deal. It's not super long, and didn't change the original story much, but a promise is a promise. I didn't go back and add the scenes you've already read. This is just simply what would have been added into the story had I decided to keep Kimblee alive. Shouldn't be confusing, unless you haven't ready anything else, which would be weird haha._

 _Enjoy the last ever chapter for The Bonds of Alchemy! Thank you guys for everything!_

* * *

 _*This scene begins in chapter eight, when Kimblee is about to finished off Roy (if you need to refresh your memory.)*_

"You should have known better than to come alone. Now you can watch your youngest subordinate take his last breath!"

He held out his free hand towards Ed, ready to attack.

"You're w-wrong about one thing." Roy stammered. "I d-didn't come alone…"

Kimblee's eyes widened. "What!"

"Now Lieutenant!" Roy yelled out, and immediately gunshots could be heard. Hawked appeared and shot off all her rounds at the enemy.

"I thought I already told you, bullets won't stop me!" Kimblee squeezed harder.

Roy smirked. "Then maybe this will!"

He plunged something sharp into the hand that was wrapped around his throat. "This is for Ed!"

Kimblee yelped in surprised and released his grip. With his hand still on the handle, Roy collided the man's injured hand with the one he still had raised toward Ed and pinned them both into the floor. Kimblee cursed Roy over and over, along with more yelling.

"Release me, you imbecile!" He tugged and strained, but both of his hands were stabbed completely through with the same knife he first hurt Ed with. They had been collided with the floor hard enough that he could not rip the blade out. This infuriated him to no end. "I swear I'll bow you to bits, Roy Mustang! I'll kill you and everyone you love! DO YOU HEAR ME! AHHH!"

"Look who's pathetic now." Roy snorted. "Hawkeye!"

The first lieutenant saluted. "Yes sir!"

"Take care of Kimblee for me. I need to focus on Ed."

"Of course, sir!"

"What are you doing!" Kimblee demanded. "You're not going to finish the job!? Coward!"

Roy glared at the man with fire in his eyes. "No, I'm not going to kill you. Because that would never be punishment enough. No, you're going to suffer a thousand times more than Ed. And if you don't bleed out before I get you to a hospital, you're going to have surgery to remove the Philosopher Stone from your body. And if you manage to survive that as well, you're then going to be chained up, just like you had Ed, and rot in prison until you die."

"You're going to regret this! I swear I'll—"

Riza forcefully slammed the barrel of her gun into the back of Kimblee's head, knocking him out cold.

"Looks like his body is finally wearing down." Roy was relieved. He had started to think nothing would stop the madman. "Tie him up and get him out of my sight."

* * *

 _*Later on at the hospital, before Ed wakes up*_

Roy took a deep breath as he stood outside a hospital room. He wished it was Ed's. He wanted it to be, but since he had made the decision to let a psycho that kidnapped and tortured his subordinate live, he had to make sure the man didn't cause any more trouble. Upon opening the door, he noticed there were two solder is posted on him, guns aimed and ready to fire if necessary. The alchemist himself was cuffed to his bed by his hands and feet, with what looked like reinforced alchemy.

 _Good, they aren't taking any chances._

He stepped in where Kimblee could see him, earning a smirk from the Crimson Alchemist.

"Colonel Mustang, how lucky am I that you would come and visit me in the hospital? Sorry this little reunion isn't under better circumstances."

Roy clenched his fists tightly. "Don't you dare say that word! You're not sorry for any of it! But I swear you will be."

"Whatever you say." He continued to smile. "I'd salute you, but my hands are a bit tied up."

Roy wanted to throw up. This man was crazy. Not only were his words discomforting, but the sight alone made him cringe. He looked worse than Ed, yet here he was acting fine while the boy still hadn't woken up once.

Life was never fair, was it?

"Alright." he spoke. 'Let's get this over with."

He motioned towards the door at the two soldiers who were waiting outside for his order. Havoc and Breda came in and assisted with getting Kimblee ready for transport. His most trusted lieutenant would have been there too, but he insisted that someone stay with Ed at all times. Currently, his mechanic was there working on his auto-mail, so he wanted someone else in the room incase there was a problem. The sooner they got this over with, the better. Kimblee had already underwent several surgeries to remove his philosopher stone. Somehow, he seemed to come out better than before each time. It was truly unbelievable how resilient his body had become. He'd probably be impressed if he didn't hate the guy so much. Once they got him secure, Roy motioned for two soldiers to stand on each side, guiding him out, while Roy walked closely behind. His finger was poised to snap at any given moment, should Kimblee try something.

"How nice of you to take me out for a walk." Kimblee cooed.

"It's the last one you're ever going to get." He nudged him from behind. "Now get moving."

Thankfully the ride was mostly uneventful, save for the deranged man's playful banter the whole time. Roy had already instructed everyone to ignore him, but even he had almost erupted in anger several times. Finally, they reached the prison facility where Kimblee would be held. Roy breathed a sigh of relief upon entering the building, happy that nothing had gone wrong. As promised, Kimblee's cell had been fitted just for him, made so that he would be chained up and unable to move.

"Since your body's so durable, I'll doubt you'll need to eat much. It would be a hassle trying to feed you everyday."

"You're too kind." The man continued to hold his confidence.

What was it going to take to get this guy to show just a hint of fear, anger, worry, something?

"Listen to me carefully." Roy grabbed his face so he could look him right in the eye. "This is where you're going to live the rest of your life. However long it takes, this is going to be your grave. You failed, Kimblee. Your men failed with Alphonse and you failed with Edward. In fact, his little brother actually got his body bracket because of you, so I guess I should be thanking you."

He paused for a brief moment when Kimblee started to frown.

"And Ed, well you certainly did a number on him, but you still failed to kill him. He's recovering just fine, and guess what, I'm perfectly alive as well. So in other words..."

He stepped back as his men finished retraining the man to his new home.

"You lost."

He spoke with satisfaction as the the bars closed between them, separating Kimblee from the outside world forever.

"Your research. Your plan. Your power. Everything."

Roy couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw the man twitch uncomfortably as his frowned deepened. Ready for it to be over, turned to walk away.

"You may have won this time..."

He stopped in his tracks, keeping his back turned but still listening.

"But this isn't the end."

And with that, Roy continued to walk away, because he was absolutely certain that if he turned around and saw Kimblee smiling, he would kill him right there. But he wanted him to suffer. He had to suffer.

For Ed.

* * *

 _*This scene is from chapter nine. It's not much different, but this is the original version.*_

"Ed, there's something I need to ask you, and you're not going to like it."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Be honest with me. Did Kim—" he paused for a moment, afraid the name its self would ensue a panic attack. Ed knew who he was talking about. "Did he rape you?"

"Please, don't... "

"You need to tell me. Because if he did, I am going to find him right now, and burn off everything that would make him even think about committing such a disgusting act again."

Ed went completely quiet. Roy had no patience for this kind of thing. He took the silence as a yes and had already started walking towards the door when Ed called out to him.

"No!" Roy stopped. "He didn't do anything."

He walked back over and sat next to the boy.

"He just wanted to scare me."

Roy clenched his fists and grit his teeth. "That's it! I can't believe I let him live. I'm going to show him what real fear is!"

He got up once more, but Ed grabbed his arm.

"Please don't go! I don't want to be alone..."

Roy stood there, trying to control his breath. Ed squeezed harder.

"Please...I can't handle any more nightmares!"

Roy closed his eyes and sighed. That was all he needed to hear. He finally had Ed safe and sound. The last thing Ed needed was to be alone right now.

"Okay. I'll stay as long as you want. And even then I won't leave."

* * *

Aaaaan that's it! That was all you were ever going to see of Kimblee in this story. I did have plans for him in the sequel, but then I went and killed him. Oh well. Like I said, not a super exciting chapter, in my opinion. Just what could have been. I am curious though, which version do you prefer? Keep in mind, this was actually the original story line. Do you like that Kimblee died, or would you have like to see him again in the sequel?

* * *

Thanks again to all who have reviewed, especially those whom I cannot respond to directly, like Brenda (so glad you love it!), Lily (thank you for the unicorn, though I unfortunately couldn't see it), Babit (don't worry Ed's gonna kick butt in the sequel!), and whoever initially asked for the bonus chapter (good thinking!)

OH! If you haven't yet, be sure to read my fluffy little one-shot, following this story, called "A Flame Alchemist's Father's Day!" And let me know what you thought!

The end, for reals this time :)


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